Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America FROM THE PUBLISHER
There is a hunger for conspiracy news in America. Hundreds of Internet websites, magazines, newsletters, even entire publishing houses, disseminate information on invisible enemies and their secret activities, subversions, and coverups. Those who suspect conspiracies behind events in the news -- the crash of TWA Flight 800, the death of Marilyn Monroe -- join generations of Americans, from the colonial period to the present day, who have entertained visions of vast plots. In this enthralling book Robert Goldberg focuses on five major conspiracy theories of the past half-century, examining how they became widely popular in the United States and why they have remained so.
In the post-World War II decades conspiracy theories have become more numerous, more commonly believed, and more deeply embedded in our culture, Goldberg contends. He investigates conspiracy theories regarding the Roswell UFO incident, the communist threat, the rise of the Antichrist, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and the Jewish plot against black America, in each case considering the various historical, social, and political influences. Conspiracy theories are not merely the products of a lunatic fringe, the author shows. Rather, paranoid rhetoric and thinking are disturbingly central in America today. With media validation and dissemination of conspiracy ideas, and with federal government behavior that damages public confidence and faith, the ground is fertile for conspiracy thinking.
FROM THE CRITICS
Leonard Dinnerstein
An extraordinarily well-written and carefully analyzed study of alleged conspiracies in our midst since the end of World War II.
Leo P. Ribuffo
From esoteric theologies . . . political scandals to blockbuster movies, Goldberg skillfully guides us through the foremost conspiracy theories in contemporary America.
Forward
[E]ssential reading. . . . Goldberg demonstrates that this paranoid style of thinking is disturbingly alive and well in American life and culture.
Publishers Weekly
Asserting that conspiratorial paranoia has been present since the U.S. was founded (for instance, fears of the Illuminati, Freemasonry and Catholicism), University of Utah history professor Goldberg (Barry Goldwater) examines the social underpinnings of such theories and the ways in which they spread. Against the backdrop of conspiracy theories from the Salem witch hunts to the fears that led to the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, Goldberg launches in-depth examinations of five major areas of contemporary conspiracy theory the rise of the Antichrist, the threat of communism, Louis Farrakhan's charges against Jews, the JFK assassination and the Roswell UFO incident and notes overlaps, such as a perceived connection between JFK and extraterrestrials. The chapter on the Nation of Islam examines conspiracy theories' role among the disenfranchised and as a "weapon in the struggle for power within the black community"; the chapter on Roswell illuminates the grassroots nature of UFO conspiracy theory. A chapter concerning mainstream conspiracies details high-profile deaths (RFK, Karen Silkwood, Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana), Hillary Rodham Clinton's "vast right-wing conspiracy," Y2K and how the Internet contributes to a "mushrooming of suspicion" in chat room speculations about Area 51, Armageddon, the New World Order, etc. Goldberg also looks at novelists (Atwood, Burroughs, DeLillo, Didion, etc.) who have contributed to a "culture of conspiracy" and examines conspiracy-themed movies (a filmography lists more than 140 titles) from 1954's Bad Day at Black Rock to Erin Brockovich. Goldberg's exhaustive research, evident in the impressive notes and bibliography, makes this theauthoritative book on a curious national proclivity. 8 illus. (Nov.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
Historian Goldberg (Barry Goldwater) analyzes "conspiracism" in American history with balance and precision, presenting conspiracy belief as a traditional part of our culture rather than a fringe response from deranged or abnormal personalities. Goldberg discusses a range of examples, from the Salem witch trials, to the abolitionists' slave power conspiracies vs. the Confederates' slave insurrection plots, to the Klan's hatred of African Americans, Catholics, and Jews. However, he focuses his study on five post-World War II conspiracy theories: the Communist fifth column, the belief in the Antichrist, the assassination of JFK, the plot against black America, and the Roswell incident concerning a purported alien attack. Goldberg's writing is clear and vivid, and his willingness to tackle conspiracies emanating from many points of the political spectrum makes his argument more cogent. Underlying his analysis is the view that both the media and, ironically, the government have been instrumental in making these five conspiracy theories (and others) more credible. This important and unusually accessible study is strongly recommended for academic libraries, most public libraries, and large high school libraries. Jack Forman, San Diego Mesa Coll. Lib. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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