We are here to remember what happened and to declare solemnly that ‘they’ must never do it again. But who are ‘they’?

HOW TO SPOT A FASCIST is a selection of three thought-provoking essays on freedom and fascism, censorship and tolerance – including Eco’s iconic essay ‘Ur-Fascism’, which lists the fourteen essential characteristics of fascism, and draws on his own personal experiences growing up in the shadow of Mussolini.

Umberto Eco remains one of the greatest writers and cultural commentators of the last century. In these pertinent pieces, he warns against prejudice and abuses of power and proves a wise and insightful guide for our times.

If we strive to learn from our collective history and come together in challenging times, we can hope for a peaceful and tolerant future.

Freedom and liberation are never-ending tasks. Let this be our motto: ‘Do not forget.’

Fear and ignorance have run rampant throughout human history, stifling creativity and unleashing unspeakable cruelty. Those sinister mythical dragons that often stood in the path of truth and knowledge seem to return century after century as each new generation succumbs to its own insecurities, misled by those who would feed off the fear of others. With great savoir vivre Robert E. Wheeler guides us through the twists and turns of our many and varied foibles, all the while aiming the clear light of reason on the root causes of human misery. His compassion and insight, humor and lively command of the language combine to explore a gallery of "rancid ascetics"; "gloating sadists"; "pontificating hierophants"; "saints, gnomes, and rogues"; "spurious religiosity"; "swaggering unreason"; "oratorical hokum"; and "mystical ballyhoo"; as well as the "whiplash of mass emotion" and the "torrential madness of hysteria-dominated crowds" to arrive at a "fuller, richer, and more abundant life" in which we will "no longer tolerate the coexistence of natural affluence and spiritual squalor". No longer blinded by fear, which undermines our reason, we can recover from our "allergic reaction to truth", turn away from magic - that "shuddering attempt to master a terrifying universe" - and stop behaving like "screaming moppets that want someone to pluck the moon from the sky for them". Guided by Wheeler's firm grasp of cultural history and modern psychology, Dragons for Sale exposes the roots of such mental maladies as witchcraft and its persecution, asceticism and unbridled hedonism, the crusades and millenarianism, nazism's monumental conceit, and the tactics of McCarthyism, as well as the more mundaneconsequences of belief in nostrum vendors and bogus messiahs. Books once regarded as the well-springs of wisdom - e.g., the Sibylline books and the Malleus Maleficarum (the witch hunter's handbook) - are discussed and assessed, uncovering the origins of our sexual misconceptions as readers examine the "seamier side of the Age of Reason" and learn how many beliefs act as "psychological toxins". When we realize that not even the learned have a monopoly on truth and that our collective anxieties should not be allowed to undermine our reason, only then may we realize our unparalleled potential for growing into healthy, fulfilled human beings.

In QAnon and On, Guardian columnist Van Badham delves headfirst into the QAnon conspiracy theory, unpicking the why, how and who behind this century's most dangerous and far-fetched internet cult. From Gamergate to Pizzagate and beyond to QAnon, internet manipulation and disinformation campaigns have grown to a geopolitical scale and spilled into real life with devastating consequences, entangling everyone from politicians to Hollywood celebrities. But what would motivate followers to so forcefully avoid the facts and surrender instead to made-up stories designed to influence and control? It's a question that has haunted Van, herself a veteran of social media's relentless trolling wars. In this daring investigation, Van exposes some of the internet's most extreme communities to understand conspiracy cults from the inside. QAnon and On is the story of the modern internet, the farscape of political belief and a disinformation pipeline built between the two that poses an ongoing threat to democracy itself. Shocking and mesmerising in equal measure, this book will open our eyes to the dangers of partisan belief.

Uses the tools of critical thinking, historical research, and philosophical inquiry to debunk the many myths and conspiracy theories surrounding JFK's shocking and untimely death. Serves as a comprehensive case study of paranoid reasoning and modern mythmaking. Discusses the causes and consequences of paranoid thinking in contemporary public discourse.

Conspiracy theories are a popular topic of conversation in everyday life but are often frowned upon in academic discussions. Looking at the recent spate of philosophical interest in conspiracy theories, The Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories looks at whether the assumption that belief in conspiracy theories is typically irrational is well founded

Imprisoned in a remote Turkish POW camp during the First World War, two British officers, Harry Jones and Cedric Hill, cunningly join forces. To stave off boredom, Jones makes a handmade Ouija board and holds fake seances for fellow prisoners. One day, an Ottoman official approaches him with a query: could Jones contact the spirits to find a vast treasure rumoured to be buried nearby? Jones, a lawyer, and Hill, a magician, use the Ouija board - and their keen understanding of the psychology of deception-to build a trap for their captors that will lead them to freedom. The Confidence Men is a nonfiction thriller featuring strategy, mortal danger and even high farce - and chronicles a profound but unlikely friendship.

This book offers a thoughtful analysis of how and why conspiracy thinking has become a popular mode of political discourse in the United States. How did conspiracy thinking become such a significant and surprisingly widely accepted form of political thinking in the United States? What compels people to respond to devastating, unpredictable events-terrorist acts, wars, natural disasters, economic upheavals-with the conviction that nothing is a coincidence, nothing is as it seems, and everything is connected? Conspiracy Rising: Conspiracy Thinking and American Public Life argues that while outlandish paranoid theories themselves may seem nonsensical, the thread of conspiracy thinking throughout American history is a both a byproduct of our democratic form of government and a very real threat to it. From the Illuminati, the Knights Templar, and the Freemasons to the government hiding aliens and faking the moon landing; from the New World Order to the Obama "Birthers," the book explores the enduring popularity of a number of American conspiracy theories, showing how the conspiracy hysteria that may provoke disdain and apathy in the general public, can become a source of dangerous extremism.

Misinformation has had dramatic and dangerous effects, as evidenced by numerous events of the late 2010s and early 2020s. Reading a steady stream of misinformation leads to distrust, potentially leading to conflict in one's family and workplace, and even to civil unrest. At the heart of many such matters is scientific illiteracy. Many people enjoy a life of ease and convenience because of science-and since science also crosses courtrooms, classrooms and cultures, it has great potential to debunk misinformation and untangle the confusion on such issues as vaccines, sexual identity, race and evolution, alternative medicine, and human reproduction. This book addresses those issues and the popular stories, conspiracies, and misleading headlines that circulate across media platforms. Bringing accurate knowledge into people's agendas is challenging, and this book uses science and facts as a basis of every deliberation over laws and policies. The chapters weave together history, politics, human biology, and law, and demonstrate how our lives are dependent on understanding the nature of things.

PSI Spies will take you behind the scenes of the U.S. Army s formerly top-secret remote viewing unit to discover how the military has used this psychic ability as a tool, and a weapon. Despite the fact that remote viewing was developed by various tax-supported government agencies, including the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and even the U.S

Conservative journalist Allum Bokhari examines how the liberal-leaning elites of Silicon Valley have completely overtaken social media, creating a crisis for privacy and freedom of expression. In the beginning, the entrepreneurs who created the internet wanted to disrupt an old, oppressive system. They wanted to ensure that everyone -- no matter their social standing or level of education -- could have a voice. Today, those same entrepreneurs are in control, and they've created an oppressive system of their own. Companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter are more powerful than most governments. They censor conservative voices. They ban content they don't like. They hide the profiles of users whose views don't align with their own. In #DELETED, Allum Bokhari tells the story of how this happened, and taps sources from deep in the government and several social media companies who are willing to speak out about it. The book includes several never-before-reported stories about censorship in big tech, and serves as a warning about what could happen if we don't do something about it.

Conspiracy theories seem to be proliferating today. Long relegated to a niche existence, conspiracy theories are now pervasive, and older conspiracy theories have been joined by a constant stream of new ones - that the USA carried out the 9/11 attacks itself, that the Ukrainian crisis was orchestrated by NATO, that we are being secretly controlled by a New World Order that keep us docile via chemtrails and vaccinations. Not to mention the moon landing that never happened. But what are conspiracy theories and why do people believe them? Have they always existed or are they something new, a feature of our modern world? In this book Michael Butter provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to the nature and development of conspiracy theories. Contrary to popular belief, he shows that conspiracy theories are less popular and influential today than they were in the past. Up to the 1950s, the Western world regarded conspiracy theories as a legitimate form of knowledge and it was therefore normal to believe in them. It was only after the Second World War that this knowledge was delegitimized, causing conspiracy theories to be banished from public discourse and relegated to subcultures. The recent renaissance of conspiracy theories is linked to internet which gives them wider exposure and contributes to the fragmentation of the public sphere. Conspiracy theories are still stigmatized today in many sections of mainstream culture but are being accepted once again as legitimate knowledge in others. It is the clash between these domains and their different conceptions of truth that is fuelling the current debate over conspiracy theories.

As soon as the armed man realized that iron and steel were the best defences for his body, he would naturally insist that some sort of a guarantee should be given him of the efficacy of the goods supplied by his armourer. This system of proving armour would be effected by using those weapons commonly in use, and these, in the early times, were the sword, the axe, the lance, the bow, and the crossbow. The latter seems to have been the more common forms of proof, though as late as the seventeenth century we have evidence that armour was proved with the "estramaon" or sword blow. -from "The Proof of Armour" Not a history of defensive armor but rather a guide to the actual making of armor, as well as the regulations that governed the artisans who made it, this is a fascinating-and practical-handbook on the production, selling, and wearing metal traditional medieval body armor. First published in 1912, this classic book-by British historian and author CHARLES JOHN FFOULKES (1868-1947), curator of London's Royal Armouries-draws on records of the time to detail the tools and appliances of the trade, the decoration and cleaning of armor, the use of leather and fabrics, and much more to offer a complete reference for readers of period fiction and history, wargamers, costumers, and anyone fascinated by the craft of the armorer. This replica of the 1912 edition is complete with all of the original diagrams, illustrations, and photos.

Do ancient maps prove that the planet was surveyed 12,000 years ago? Were the poles once in a different position to where they are today? Is there a secret pattern joining the great sites of antiquity? In this revolutionary little book, ancient sites expert Hugh Newman outlines various theories concerning geometry in the distribution of sacred sites on Earth and comes to some startling conclusions. Illustrated throughout with fantastic graphics, this book will change your world. WOODEN BOOKS are small but packed with information. "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.

Written by Peter Moon and Radu Cinamar, a highly placed Romanian intelligence operative, this book heralds the most remarkable archaeological find in the annals of Mankind. Unbeknownst to most, there is an ancient sphinx located in the Bucegi Mountains of Romania. In 2003, the Pentagon discovered, through the use of satellite technology, an anomaly beneath this ancient sphinx. Through the highest levels of Freemasonry, the Pentagon was able to secure an alliance with the most secret department of the Romanian Intelligence Service which is known as Department Zero. Together, the Romanians and the Americans utilised the Pentagon's secret technology to penetrate a hidden chamber beneath the sphinx which was otherwise inaccessible to humans. What was discovered eventually was a holographic Hall of Records left by an advanced civilisation near three mysterious tunnels leading into the Inner Earth. The book chronicles the discovery of these modern day artefacts which represent the dawn of a new era for Mankind. Peter Moon is brought into the fold through his friend, Dr David Anderson, the mysterious scientist who founded the Time Travel Research Center on Long Island and also maintains a similar facility in Romania. Recognising that such satellite technology would had to have utilised Dr Anderson's proprietary space-time technology for maintaining satellites in orbit, Peter Moon pursues these matters further and accepts Dr Anderson's invitation to Romania where he visits the Romanian Sphinx and learns of a mysterious association between the mysterious time travel scientist and Radu Cinamar.

Concise introduction to the development of conspiracy theories during the pandemic. Takes a balanced approach drawing on empirical data and social science research rather than sensationalism. Seeks to understand rather than just condemn or mock conspiracy theorists.