Assume Nothing: Encounters with Assassins, Spies, Presidents, and Would-Be Masters of the Universe

(Hardback)

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Curiosity led Edward Epstein to investigate some of the greatest political mysteries of our time, such as the JFK assassination in Dallas, the Vatican banking scandal in Rome, and the diamond cartel in South Africa. Seeking more information, he often found himself a fly on the wall at the highest reaches of the establishment, observing how presidents, tycoons, bankers, and media moguls secretly greased the wheels of power. This memoir recounts his life as a pursuer of lost truths.

Some accuse Epstein of being a conspiracist, but that is incorrect. He is a puzzle solver. Instead of accepting the received wisdom, he searches for the missing pieces of the picture, such as the autopsy photographs of President John F. Kennedy that were kept from the investigation conducted by the Warren Commission. Finding suppressed or overlooked evidence may result in overturning an established narrative, as happened with the publication ofInquest, Epsteins book about the official probe into the JFK assassination. But that is very different from looking for a conspiracy.

Sometimes, Epsteins work has in fact uncovered a deep conspiracy, as with the world diamond cartel. Other times, it has discredited belief in a conspiracy, as when he delved into the murders of numerous Black Panthers. After his findings were published in theNew Yorker, newspapers including theWashington Postand theLos Angeles Timesissued editorial apologies for their own reporting on the murders, which had suggested that an FBI conspiracy was behind them.

Epsteins primary interest has never been to advance an agenda, but rather to spot gaps in the conventional narrative and fill them in.Assume Nothingis the story of a lifelong quest for missing puzzle pieces, and also a story of self-actualization.

Reviews

Whats seriously amazing is to getinto the mind of one ofthe worlds best investigative journalists. The Warren Commissionchapters are utterly riveting, and one marvelsat the way Epstein insinuates his way into getting so many important scoops.Assume Nothingshould be taught in every journalism school.

Tina Brown, former editor of theNew Yorker,Vanity Fair,andNewsweek

"Edward Jay Epsteins autobiographyAssume Nothingserves up one engaging chapter after another on the personalities he has met, befriended, dated, or investigated over the course of his career as academic, author, and reporter.The cast of characters that moved through Epsteins life is head-spinningVladimir Nabokov, Barbara Streisand, James Angleton, Allan Bloom, Pat Moynihan, Earl Warren, Hannah Arendt, and Donald Trump, to name a few.Assume Nothingis not only an entertaining tale of the writers life but also a personal chronicle of an era."

James Piereson, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author ofShattered Consensus: The Rise and Decline of America's Postwar Political Order

With seamless access to someof the key players of our time, Edward Jay Epstein helped define the great age of journalism. His memoirAssume Nothingputs to shame the all-too-frequent practice of deferring to a standard narrative. Ever since he exploded the illusion that the Warren Commission had done a thorough investigation of the John F. Kennedy assassinationwhich he accomplished while still a senior at Cornell in 1960Epstein has brilliantly challenged some of the most wrong-headed and tenacious myths of our credulous era. Epstein is a national treasure.

Michael Wolff, author ofFire and Fury

Assume Nothingis an astonishing, delightful, and unique memoir by investigative icon Edward Jay Epstein. His unmatched investigations have taken him into the worlds of espionage, diamonds, cartels, and Hollywood, and he now reveals his own secrets of how he got his jaw-dropping scoops.

Shelby Coffey, former editor of theLos Angeles Times

Edward Jay Epstein is the man who knew everybodyfrom Vladimir Nabokov to Richard Nixon. His extraordinary memoir is the cavalcade of our era.

Sidney Blumenthal,former aide to PresidentBill Clinton

Author Bio

Edward Jay Epstein was born in 1935 in New York City. He received his BA at Cornell University, his PhD at Harvard University, and taught political science at MIT and UCLA, where he was Regent Professor of Government. He was a staff writer for theNew Yorkerand a columnist forManhattan, IncandSlate. Viking Press published his undergraduate thesis under the titleInquest: The Warren Commission and the Establishment of Truthin 1966. His PhD thesis, which was excerpted in theNew Yorker, was published by Random House asNews from Nowhere: Television and the News.Dossier, his biography of Armand Hammer, also excerpted in theNew Yorker, won the Financial Times/Booz-Allen-Hamilton award as both the best biography and the best business book. He has published 18 books and lives in New York City.