New U. Press book uses Zapruder film to dispute findings of Warren Commission

LAWRENCE -- On just 26 seconds of film, dressmaker Abraham Zapruder captured the images that have haunted Americans for decades.

Now, as the 40th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy approaches, a new book published by the University Press of Kansas provides the first comprehensive scholarly study of the film and its relation to the tragic events of Nov. 22, 1963.

"The Zapruder Film: Reframing JFK's Assassination" by David Wrone traces the four-decade journey of that infamous home movie, from its creation on the "grassy knoll" through its initial sale to Life magazine, its analysis by the Warren Commission and countless assassination researchers, its licensing by the Zapruder family, the legal battles over bootleg copies and its eventual sale to the federal government for $16 million.

Wrone, a retired University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point history professor and one of the nation's foremost authorities on the assassination, re-examines Zapruder's film with a fresh eye and a deep knowledge of forensic evidence. Most important, perhaps, his analysis challenges the Warren Commission's lone-gunman and single-bullet theories. The film, Wrone notes, provides a scientifically precise timeline of events, as well as crucial clues regarding the timing, number, origins and impact of the shots fired that day in Dallas.

Without fanfare, Wrone concludes that more than three gunshots were fired from more than one direction and that alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald most likely fired none of those shots. While his conclusions refute the Warren Commission's findings and imply a conspiracy to cover up the truth, Wrone casts an equally critical eye on the throngs of conspiracy theorists who have pointed the finger of blame in practically every direction.

"Wrone brilliantly dissects the reality and legend of this startling footage and provides a truly important new contribution to our understanding of the assassination and its impact on our culture," said Douglas Brinkley, director of the Eisenhower Center and professor of history at the University of New Orleans.

Wrone does not speculate as to who actually shot JFK or why -- or even whether Oswald was involved. Instead, his book is concerned more with doggedly pursuing the evidence wherever it leads. In doing so, he has created a cleareyed and provocative new reading of this remarkable piece of film that, over the past four decades, has become synonymous with the assassination itself.

The University Press of Kansas, located on the University of Kansas' West Campus, publishes scholarly books that advance knowledge and regional books that contribute to the understanding of Kansas, the Great Plains and the Midwest. Founded in 1946 and reorganized in 1967 and again in 1976, it represents the six state universities: KU, Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas State University, Pittsburg State University and Wichita State University.