In a fascinating new book, the forgotten tale of Richard Pavlick, who tried to kill JFK in 1960, is brought to light

“Everybody’s got the right / To their dreams,” goes the lyric in Stephen Sondheim’s musical Assassins, sung by a chorus line made up of men and women who have tried, with or without success, to kill the president of the United States.

The infamous group includes John Wilkes Booth, Charles J Guiteau and John Hinckley Jr. An updated version might add Thomas Crooks and Ryan Routh for allegedly trying to assassinate Donald Trump last year. But there is no place for Richard Pavlick, the would-be killer of John F Kennedy you probably never heard of.