BOOKS: Killing the Killers: Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard
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Jun. 18—Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard are at it again.
They have written bestsellers about "Killing Lincoln," "Killing Kennedy," Killing Jesus," "Killing Patton," "Killing Reagan," "Killing the Rising Sun," "Killing England," "Killing the SS," "Killing Crazy Horse" and "Killing the Mob."
Now, they are "Killing the Killers."
The killers being terrorists.
As past titles both obviously suggest and sometimes obscurely reference, O'Reilly and Dugard have hopscotched back and forth throughout history in the "Killing" books.
They have reached back 50 years, 150 years, 2,000 years, 70 years, 40 years, 70 years again, 250 years, 70 years again, etc.
"Killing the Killers" is the most contemporary volume of the series. It opens with the military operation that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 and continues through to American troops leaving Afghanistan last summer.
With its more contemporary look at terrorist attacks and taking out terrorists, "Killing the Killers" also has a highly partisan bent — there's nothing more contemporary than leaning one way or the other politically in 21st century America.
The book is highly critical of President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden's actions against terrorists while mostly praising President Donald Trump's handling of terrorists. Which doesn't come as much of a surprise given O'Reilly's past stint as a Fox News anchor.
Some readers may raise an eyebrow at some of the claims, which is not unusual for the "Killing" series. O'Reilly and Dugard often insert conspiracy theories and details not found in other history books into their volumes.
But they also provide insights often ignored by other history books. "Killing Kennedy," for example, is a horrific moment-by-moment detailing of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
"Killing the Killers" takes readers into the lairs of the terrorists, the horrors faced by their victims and the victims' families and the leaders and American military charged with dispatching the terrorists.
"Killing the Killers" follows the same style — similar to bestselling thrillers — that should be familiar to regular "Killing" readers and should be read, as all history books should, with a critical eye.
