There is a war on truth. And the liars are winning. There is an increasingly large number of weapons in the arsenal of the rich, the powerful and the elected to prevent the truth from coming out - to bury it, warp it, twist it to suit their purposes. Truthteller exposes this toolbox of lies and deception, and reveals how governments and corporations have covered-up mass murder, corruption and catastrophe. In a world where Putin and Trump have successfully branded journalists as traffickers in fake news, while promoting the actual creators of fake news, investigative reporter Stephen Davis shows the tools that are used to deceive us and explains why they work. He draws from over three decades as an award-winning reporter, editor, foreign correspondent, television producer, documentary filmmaker, and journalism educator to analyse exclusive documents and interviews. Discover shocking details of deception in media across the globe and learn how to recognise and decode the lies we are told by those in power. Truthteller is an essential guide for understanding the modern media world - for teachers, students and concerned citizens who want to know the facts, not fake news and conspiracy theories. It takes you inside the world of investigative reporting in an intimate history of a reporter's battles, won and lost, the personal and professional costs and the lives damaged along the way.

This disturbing expose describes a secret alliance forged at the close of World War II by the CIA, the Sicilian and US mafias, and the Vatican to thwart the possibility of a Communist invasion of Europe. Journalist Paul L. Williams presents evidence suggesting the existence of "stay-behind" units in many European countries consisting of five thousand to fifteen thousand military operatives. According to the author's research, the initial funding for these guerilla armies came from the sale of large stocks of SS morphine that had been smuggled out of Germany and Italy and of bogus British bank notes that had been produced in concentration camps by skilled counterfeiters. As the Cold War intensified, the units were used not only to ward off possible invaders, but also to thwart the rise of left-wing movements in South America and NATO-based countries by terror attacks. Williams argues that Operation Gladio soon gave rise to the toppling of governments, wholesale genocide, the formation of death squads, financial scandals on a grand scale, the creation of the mujahideen, an international narcotics network, and, most recently, the ascendancy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit cleric with strong ties to Operation Condor (an outgrowth of Gladio in Argentina) as Pope Francis I. Sure to be controversial, Operation Gladio connects the dots in ways the mainstream media often overlooks.

Pursuing his investigations of high financial fraud, international banking, hidden systems of finance, black budgets and breakaway civilizations, author and researcher Joseph P. Farrell continues his examination of the post-war Nazi International, an “extra-territorial state” without borders or capitals, a network of terrorists, drug runners, and people in the very heights of financial power willing to commit financial fraud in amounts totaling trillions of dollars.

Breakaway civilizations, black budgets, secret technology, occult rituals, international terrorism, giant corporate cartels, patent law and the hijacking of nature: it’s all in this book where Farrell explores what he calls ‘the business model’ of the post-war Axis elite.

It is Farrell at his best―uncovering the gargantuan financial fraud and hidden technology of the breakaway civilization.

Is the world we know a lie? Could the truth be something very different from the information we get from mainstream media and conventional history? Whether it's the sinking of the Titanic, Shakespeare's true identity or the secrets of the Illuminati, Conspiracy Theories has something to capture the curiosity and imagination of every reader. As well as popular mysteries such as the Loch Ness Monster, this book explores the return of old beliefs such as the idea of a flat Earth, current affairs including Donald Trump and - in this revised edition - new information and evidence on the mysterious disappearance of Amelia Earhart, the Moon Landing and the assassination of JFK.

'A first class book' Sunday Times We're all conspiracy theorists. Some of us just hide it better than others. Conspiracy theorists do not wear tin-foil hats (for the most part). They are not just a few kooks lurking on the paranoid fringes of society with bizarre ideas about shape-shifting reptilian aliens running society in secret. They walk among us. They are us. Everyone loves a good conspiracy. Yet conspiracy theories are not a recent invention. And they are not always a harmless curiosity. In Suspicious Minds, Rob Brotherton explores the history and consequences of conspiracism, and delves into the research that offers insights into why so many of us are drawn to implausible, unproven and unproveable conspiracy theories. They resonate with some of our brain's built-in quirks and foibles, and tap into some of our deepest desires, fears, and assumptions about the world. The fascinating and often surprising psychology of conspiracy theories tells us a lot - not just why we are drawn to theories about sinister schemes, but about how our minds are wired and, indeed, why we believe anything at all. Conspiracy theories are not some psychological aberration - they're a predictable product of how brains work. This book will tell you why, and what it means. Of course, just because your brain's biased doesn't always mean you're wrong. Sometimes conspiracies are real. Sometimes, paranoia is prudent.

Web of Lies is a fascinating and far-reaching examination of the rising threat of far-right extremist thought in Ireland and internationally, and looks at how these movements utilise the online world to spread disinformation, polarising society in the process. From the Illuminati to the Red Scare, Save the Children to QAnon, research analyst Aoife Gallagher shows that there are many pathways to radicalisation - most of them benign and unassuming - and demonstrates that we are all susceptible to conspiratorial thinking and at risk of falling down the rabbit hole. In an accessible and entertaining style, Web of Lies presents a history of conspiracy theories and their roots in anti-Semitism, xenophobia and white supremacy; the role social media plays in spreading these theories; how they can proliferate during times of crises; and what we can do to protect ourselves and others from falling victim to these messages. 'Ever wondered how good people get trapped in their worst nightmares? Web of Lies is an unforgettable journey through the upside-down world of conspiratorial thinking. Aoife Gallagher has written the definitive account of how global lies have changed Irish lives, in a book full of personal empathy, unrivalled expertise and captivating storytelling. It shines a light on the real-world harm of our darkest online fantasies and it shows how each of us can fight back.' Mark Little 'At a time of fractious discord in discourse, Gallagher provides a vital context to and education in the strange and alarming world of conspiracy theories. Anyone interested in truth and facts should read this book.' Una Mullally 'Aoife Gallagher can plumb the depths of the internet and come up to the surface to explain what she's found with levity, empathy and humour. Wise without lecturing; sharp but always maintaining compassion for those caught up in misinformation. A fantastic global overview of trends while having one eye on how these things have come to Ireland.' Brianna Parkins

An energetic new translation of an ancient Roman masterpiece about a failed coup led by a corrupt and charismatic politician In 63 BC, frustrated by his failure to be elected leader of the Roman Republic, the aristocrat Catiline tried to topple its elected government. Backed by corrupt elites and poor, alienated Romans, he fled Rome while his associates plotted to burn the city and murder its leading politicians. The attempted coup culminated with the unmasking of the conspirators in the Senate, a stormy debate that led to their execution, and the defeat of Catiline and his legions in battle. In How to Stop a Conspiracy, Josiah Osgood presents a brisk, modern new translation of the definitive account of these events, Sallust's The War with Catiline-a brief, powerful book that has influenced how generations of readers, including America's founders, have thought about coups and political conspiracies. In a taut, jaw-dropping narrative, Sallust pleasurably combines juicy details about Catiline and his louche associates with highly quotable moral judgments and a wrenching description of the widespread social misery they exploited. Along the way, we get unforgettable portraits of the bitter and haunted Catiline, who was sympathetic to the plight of Romans yet willing to destroy Rome; his archenemy Cicero, who thwarts the conspiracy; and Julius Caesar, who defends the conspirators and is accused of being one of them. Complete with an introduction that discusses how The War with Catiline has shaped and continues to shape our understanding of how republics live and die, and featuring the original Latin on facing pages, this volume makes Sallust's gripping history more accessible than ever before.

The questions have haunted our nation for half a century: Was the President killed by a single gunman? Was Lee Harvey Oswald part of a conspiracy? Did the Warren Commission discover the whole truth of what happened on November 22, 1963? Philip Shenon, a veteran investigative journalist who spent most of his career at The New York Times, finally provides many of the answers. Though A CRUEL AND SHOCKING ACT began as Shenon's attempt to write the first insider's history of the Warren Commission, it quickly became something much larger and more important when he discovered startling information that was withheld from the Warren Commission by the CIA, FBI and others in power in Washington. Shenon shows how the commission's ten-month investigation was doomed to fail because the man leading it - Chief Justice Earl Warren - was more committed to protecting the Kennedy family than getting to the full truth about what happened on that tragic day. A taut, page-turning narrative, Shenon's book features some of the most compelling figures of the twentieth century-Bobby Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover, Chief Justice Warren, CIA spymasters Allen Dulles and Richard Helms, as well as the CIA's treacherous 'molehunter,' James Jesus Angleton. Based on hundreds of interviews and unprecedented access to the surviving commission staffers and many other key players, Philip Shenon's authoritative, scrupulously researched book will forever change the way we think about the Kennedy assassination and about the deeply flawed investigation that followed.

Many Americans believe that their own government is guilty of shocking crimes. Government agents shot the president. They faked the moon landing. They stood by and allowed the murders of 2,400 servicemen in Hawaii-or 3,000 civilians in New York. In their zeal to cover up their crimes, they killed witnesses, faked evidence, and stole into secure offices to snatch incriminating documents from the files. Although the paranoid style has been a feature of the American scene since the birth of the Republic, in Real Enemies, Kathryn Olmsted shows that it is only in the twentieth century that strange and unlikely conspiracy theories have become central to American politics. While Americans had worried about bankers, Jews, and Catholics for decades, Olmsted sees World War I as a critical turning point for conspiracy theories. As the federal government expanded, Americans grew more fearful of the government itself-the military, the intelligence community, and even the President. Perhaps more important, Olmsted examines why so many Americans believe that their government conspires against them, why more people believe these theories over time, and how real conspiracies by government officials-such as the infamous Northwoods plan-have fueled our paranoia about the government. She analyzes Pearl Harbor, Cold War and anticommunist plots, the JFK assassination, Watergate, and 9/11. Along the way, she introduces readers to a lively cast of characters, from the Nobel prize-winning scientist who became a leading conspiracist to a housewife who believed she could unlock the secrets of the JFK assassination. Polls show that thirty-six percent of Americans think that George W. Bush knew in advance of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Real Enemies, an engaging work on a timely, important topic, sheds light on such theories, revealing how the rampant fear of conspiracy at once invigorates and undermines American democracy.

Bang up to date with fresh cover-ups relating to Barack Obama, Michael Jackson and Afghanistan The 100 military, medical, religious, alien, intelligence, banking and historical cover-ups 'they' really don't want you to know about: The Military-Industrial Complex's fomentation of war with Iraq; the construction of concentration camps in the United States by FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency); the use of alien 'Foo Fighters' by the Nazis and the Japanese during the Second World War; the miracle natural drug suppressed by Big Pharma; the Israelis' responsibility for the bombing of USS Cole; the real reason why CERN broke down; the murder of Paul McCartney - and you didn't even know he was dead. Entertainingly written and closely documented, The Mammoth Book of Conspiracies uncovers the 100 most secret cover-ups in an accessible A-Z format. It covers 95 new conspiracies even more fiendish than those detailed in The Mammoth Book of Cover-Ups by the same author, and provides fresh revelations regarding the five furthest-reaching conspiracies in that book, including the assassination of JFK and 9/11. The book includes a full bibliography and introduction.

Taking a global and interdisciplinary approach, the Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories provides a comprehensive overview of conspiracy theories as an important social, cultural and political phenomenon in contemporary life. This handbook provides the most complete analysis of the phenomenon to date. It analyses conspiracy theories from a variety of perspectives, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. It maps out the key debates, and includes chapters on the historical origins of conspiracy theories, as well as their political significance in a broad range of countries and regions. Other chapters consider the psychology and the sociology of conspiracy beliefs, in addition to their changing cultural forms, functions and modes of transmission. This handbook examines where conspiracy theories come from, who believes in them and what their consequences are. This book presents an important resource for students and scholars from a range of disciplines interested in the societal and political impact of conspiracy theories, including Area Studies, Anthropology, History, Media and Cultural Studies, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology.

Conspiracy theorists claim impossible knowledge, such as knowledge of the doings of a secret world government. Yet they accept this impossible knowledge as truth. In effect, conspiracy theories detach truth from knowledge. Knowledge without power is powerless. And the impossible knowledge claimed by conspiracy theorists is rigorously excluded from the regimes of truth and power - that is not even wrong. Yet conspiratorial knowledge is potent enough to be studied by researchers and recognized as a risk by experts and authorities. Therefore, in order to understand conspiracy theories, we need to think of truth beyond knowledge and power. That is impossible for any scientific discipline because it takes for granted that truth comes from knowledge and that truth is powerful enough to destroy the legitimacy of any authority that would dare to conceal or manipulate it. Since science is unable to make sense of conspiracy theories, it treats conspiracy theorists as individuals who fail to make sense, and it explains their persistent nonsense by some cognitive, behavioral, or social dysfunction. Fortunately, critical theory has developed tools able to conceive of truth beyond knowledge and power, and hence to make sense of conspiracy theories. This book organizes them into a toolbox which will enable students and researchers to analyze conspiracy theories as practices of the self geared at self-empowerment, a sort of political self-help.

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has changed the way we live and communicate. The phases of lockdown brought about by the pandemic fundamentally changed the way we work, lead our everyday lives, and how we communicate, resulting in Internet platforms becoming more important than ever before. Communicating COVID-19 explores the impact of these changes on society and the way we communicate, and the effect this has had on the spread of misinformation. Critical communication and Internet scholar Christian Fuchs analyses the changes of everyday communication in the COVID-19 crisis and how misinformation has spread online throughout the pandemic. He explores the foundations and rapid spread of conspiracy theories and anti-vaccination discourse on the Internet, paying particular attention to the vast amount of COVID-19 conspiracy theories about Bill Gates. He also interrogates Internet users' reactions to these COVID-19 conspiracy theories as well as how Donald Trump communicated about COVID-19 on Twitter during the final year of his Presidency. Communicating COVID-19 is an essential work for anyone seeking to understand the role of digital technologies, changes in communication and the Internet, and the spread of conspiracy theories in the context of COVID-19.

Since 1954, a discrete and select group of wealthy and powerful individuals have attended a private, yearly conference to discuss matters of their choosing. This group represents European and North American elites, as well as new talent and rising stars, from the worlds of politics, business, media, academia, the military and even royalty, and has included household names such as Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger and even Prince Philip. In recent years their number have featured David Cameron, Tony Blair, Angela Merkel, Bill Clinton and David Rockefeller. These are 'the Bilderbergers', named after the hotel where their secret gatherings were first hosted. What is their purpose, why do they meet, and what do they want? Investigative writer Gerhard Wisnewski explores the numerous claims of conspiracy that swirl around the group, revealing names of participants, their agendas and their goals. The scene opens in the sun-kissed seaside resort of Vouliagmeni, Greece, where Wisnewski attempts to observe and report on a Bilderberg conference. He soon attracts aggressive attention from police and undercover security, and it is made abundantly clear he is not welcome. From this rude introduction, Wisnewski works backwards to the founding of the Bilderbergers in 1954 by a shadowy Jesuit with secret service allegiances. Examining records and hidden reports, Wisnewski uncovers the true history of the organization, the alliances among key individuals and their common interests. Are the Bilderbergers puppet-masters, pulling strings behind the scenes? Are plans afoot to create a global government and a new political system? To what extent do they represent a clandestine super-government? This book offers a unique view into the workings of power, and the secret methods of those who seek to govern and control behind the scenes.

From the food we eat, the water we drink to the air we breathe, everything these days seems capable of killing us. Recently we have seen an unprecedented number of deaths due to medications for diseases that may not even exist, obscure cancers caused by our modern devices, and brutal police tactics. All a coincidence? Think again. In Population Control, acclaimed journalist Jim Marrs lays out a stunning case for his most audacious conspiracy yet: the scheme concocted by a handful of global elites to reduce the world's population to 500 million by whatever means necessary and make a profit from it. Marrs, the bestselling author of Rule by Secrecy and The Trillion Dollar Conspiracy, pulls no punches in exposing this evil and chillingly effective plan. He explains how a small group of tremendously wealthy and powerful people control virtually every important industry - guns, oil, pharmaceuticals, food, and of course the media - and how it uses this vast network of conglomerates to take actions that lead to the deaths of men and women all over the world. In the explosive Population Control, Marrs lays bare the damning truths corporate owners don't want you to discover: how they've spied on private citizens, intentionally spread disease, and destroyed the planet chasing profits, all to improve the lives of a privileged few while eliminating everyone else. Finally, he offers a citizen's blueprint for fighting back.

Best-selling conspiracy writer Jim Keith follows up his previous books with this investigation of various Men in Black stories. Known to Ufologists as M.I.B.s, Keith chronicles the strange goings on surrounding UFO activity and often bizarre cars that they arrive in-literal flying cars Men In Black incidents straddle the realms of mysticism and science, occultism and UFOs, material reality and fantasy; partaking of all, defined by none. Since ancient times these mysterious beings have stalked the planet. In recent years they have tried to silence witnesses of UFO sightings with threats, harassment and worse. Who are these strange beings garbed all in black? Are they government agents? Aliens? Creatures from another dimension? In Casebook on the Men in Black, author Jim Keith traces the path of these unusual visitors through history, and presents startling evidence about their origin and purpose. According to the lore, UFO witnesses are sometimes harassed or intimidated by mysterious men dressed entirely in black. Are they government agents, sinister aliens, time-travel police from the future or some other interdimensional creatures?

A work of monumental research and overwhelming evidence, Case Closed restores the human drama to one of the watershed events in American history, and in the process answers the nagging riddle of how and why Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK.

Are conspiracy theories everywhere and is everyone a conspiracy theorist? This ground-breaking study challenges some of the widely shared assessments in the scholarship about a perceived mainstreaming of conspiracy theory. It claims that conspiracy theory underwent a significant shift in status in the mid-20th century and has since then become highly visible as an object of concern in public debates. Providing an in-depth analysis of academic and media discourses, Katharina Thalmann is the first scholar to systematically trace the history and process of the delegitimization of conspiracy theory. By reading a wide range of conspiracist accounts about three central events in American history from the 1950s to 1970s - the Great Red Scare, the Kennedy assassination, and the Watergate scandal - Thalmann shows that a veritable conspiracist subculture emerged in the 1970s as conspiracy theories were pushed out of the legitimate marketplace of ideas and conspiracy theory became a commodity not unlike pornography: alluring in its illegitimacy, commonsensical, and highly profitable. This will be of interest to scholars and researchers interested in American history, culture and subcultures, as well, of course, to those fascinated by conspiracies.

The Earth is flat, the World Trade Center collapse was a controlled demolition, planes are spraying poison to control the weather, and actors faked the Sandy Hook massacre.... All these claims are bunk: falsehoods, mistakes, and in some cases, outright lies. But many people passionately believe one or more of these conspiracy theories. They consume countless books and videos, join like-minded online communities, try to convert those around them, and even, on occasion, alienate their own friends and family. Why is this, and how can you help people, especially those closest to you, break free from the downward spiral of conspiracy thinking? In Escaping the Rabbit Hole, author Mick West shares over a decade's worth of knowledge and experience investigating and debunking false conspiracy theories through his forum, MetaBunk.org, and sets forth a practical guide to helping friends and loved ones recognize these theories for what they really are. Perhaps counter-intuitively, the most successful approaches to helping individuals escape a rabbit hole aren't comprised of simply explaining why they are wrong; rather, West's tried-and-tested approach emphasizes clear communication based on mutual respect, honesty, openness, and patience. West puts his debunking techniques and best practices to the test with four of the most popular false conspiracy theories today (Chemtrails, 9/11 Controlled Demolition, False Flags, and Flat Earth) - providing road maps to help you to understand your friend and help them escape the rabbit hole. These are accompanied by real-life case studies of individuals who, with help, were able to break free from conspiracism. With sections on: the wide spectrum of conspiracy theories avoiding the "shill" label psychological factors and other complications (and concluding with) a look at the future of debunking Mick West has put forth a conclusive, well-researched, practical reference on why people fall down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole and how you can help them escape.