Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History that Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons & the Great Pyramids

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Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History that Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons & the Great Pyramids

by Jim Marrs

3.87 · rating details · 385 ratings · 57 reviews

What secrets connect Egypt's Great Pyramids, the Freemasons, and the Council on Foreign Relations? In this astonishing book, celebrated journalist Jim Marrs examines the world's most closely guarded secrets, tracing the history of clandestine societies and the power they have wielded - from the ancient mysteries to modern-day conspiracy theories.

Searching for truth, he u

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Paperback, 480 pages

Published April 24th 2001 by Harper Paperbacks (first published 2000)

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Nov 03, 2007

Nathan rated it

Recommends it for: Mental patients, weary Oliver Stone fans.

Shelves: trust-no-one, humor

Let's get this out of the way, first. This book is Conspiracy Theory 101 from start to finish. It's also probably mostly bullshit. For that reason, it's hard to review or rate. Have you ever wondered "What secrets connect Egypt's Great Pyramids, the Freemasons, the Illuminati, and the Council on Foreign Relations?" Of course, you have. This question burns at the core of every sentient human being. I have to admit I'm torn between giving this book one star or five. As a thought exercise...moreLet's get this out of the way, first. This book is Conspiracy Theory 101 from start to finish. It's also probably mostly bullshit. For that reason, it's hard to review or rate. Have you ever wondered "What secrets connect Egypt's Great Pyramids, the Freemasons, the Illuminati, and the Council on Foreign Relations?" Of course, you have. This question burns at the core of every sentient human being. I have to admit I'm torn between giving this book one star or five. As a thought exercise, it's fun as hell, and there's undoubtedly some spooky, unexplainable things covered in Rule by Secrecy. But let's put Jim Marrs into perspective here. His website and his own other writings reveal he's a firm believer in a plot involving the US government to stage the 9/11 terror attacks. Tell me something, someone, please. If our government was competent enough to fake something like that, why couldn't they fake finding a nuclear bomb in Iraq, or even a dirty bomb, or hell even a bunch of blow darts tipped with Ebola? Something to justify it? You know, a couple of covert CIA agents plant a nuclear bomb in a bunker, and all of a sudden the war seems justified and everyone calms down. It'd certainly go a long way toward promoting this terrible conspiracy Marrs sees everywhere. God, it would have been so easy to pull off, and a brilliant (if totally amoral) tactical move. Certainly it would have been easier to keep quiet than the full conspiracy Marrs believes has been hidden from us. Which brings me back to Rule by Secrecy. The same people, Marrs believes, that rule the world and planned 9/11, are connected through the CIA, Johnson (who killed Kennedy), the Council on Foreign Relations, a few elite banking institutions and universities, the bloodline of Jesus, Templars, Nazis, the Russian Revolution, the American Civil War, the Vatican and oh, aliens. Who built and / or inspired the building of the Pyramids in Egypt. By Freemasons. Or something. I could add Papa Smurf to the list and it wouldn't be any less surreal or plausible. It's all far, far too complex. Nothing like this could ever be kept secret. Surely, even the evil overlords of this plot would be too fucking confused by their own conspiracy to ever get around to ruling the world. And these organizations he implicates can barely pave roads or overthrow third-world governments without a subsequent Senate investigation. Nevermind that many of his arguments are based on documents that are long since proven to be hoaxes or lies. He strings together bits of actual fact with fanciful storytelling to make it sound like the Bush family sold gas directly to the Nazis to fulfill an alien agenda as ancient as Christ. Rule by Secrecy is fun, but maybe not entirely... sane. Conspiracy theories like this are terrifying but comforting. They let us pretend there's something more than human hate and incompetence running the world. It's a lot more comforting to think LBJ was cunning enough to get away with killing Kennedy than to know how terrified and confused Johnson really was at the time. It's more comforting to think there's a conspiracy than to think nobody in the entire world really has a handle on things. Rule by Secrecy would make a great movie, but I don't know that it flies as research or a provable thesis. I do wonder, though, if Marrs isn't a disinformation agent working for some shadowy intelligence service. This kind of stuff is great for getting people to look in all the wrong directions. (That's why the CIA invented Scientology!) Now that would be a great fucking story.

NC(less)

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Aug 09, 2007

Chris rated it

Shelves: nonfiction

Hm. I'm torn between giving this book 2 or 3 stars, because I didn't really enjoy reading it--at least, not until the end. Oddly enough, the part I thought I'd laugh most at (aliens running the world) was the most interesting section. I like that the book forces readers (those who want to finish it, at any rate) to keep an open mind. It's all too easy to forget that for ages we humans burned people for saying the Earth is round. It's tough to imagine we're THAT much better than our predeces...more

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Jul 20, 2007

Steven Stark rated it

I almost forgot this one. Thanks, Nathan!

This book takes the concept of conspiracy theory to an entirely different plane of existence. It starts in the present day, Council on Forein Relations, Bilderburgers, Trilateral Commission, etc. and goes back through time, all the way back to Mesopotamian culture and ideas of aliens.

I have to admit that I really had to process this one for a couple of days. It tripped me out a little bit, but it's an entertaining read and Jim...more

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Dec 13, 2008

Cwn_annwn_13 rated it

Shelves: on-my-shelf-home-library

Marrs gets through a little over half of this book doing a great job of exposing the new world order, reminding me of a newer up to date version of None Dare Call it Conspiracy by Gary Allen. He exposes the CFR, Trilateral Commision, Bilderbergers, the Federal Reserve, and that all roads lead to oligarchal business and banking families like the Rothschilds and Rockefellers. Marrs also shows the role that was played by these people in fomenting, funding and profiting from both sides of almost all...moreMarrs gets through a little over half of this book doing a great job of exposing the new world order, reminding me of a newer up to date version of None Dare Call it Conspiracy by Gary Allen. He exposes the CFR, Trilateral Commision, Bilderbergers, the Federal Reserve, and that all roads lead to oligarchal business and banking families like the Rothschilds and Rockefellers. Marrs also shows the role that was played by these people in fomenting, funding and profiting from both sides of almost all major wars going back to the days of Napoleon. He does drop the ball when he briefly discusses "Nazi Occultism" and uses idiots like Trevor Ravenscroft and Peter Lavenda as sources.

From there he shows the role played by Masonic secret socieities in the French revolution, what is known about the Bavarian Illuminati and a few other secret societies. After that he goes into Knights Templar/Merovingian Bloodline/Priory of Scion territory, which while that stuff is interesting and should be studied, its all just conjecture. Actually those topics have became a whole genre onto themselves in recent years. Besides that I've always thought that Priory of Scion lists that the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail got ahold of were either an out and out hoax perpetrated by the authors of Holy Blood Holy Grail, or put out as intentional disinformation by somebody trying to mislead them and the public.

After the Merovingian stuff Marrs gets way out there by going into Sitchen/Von Daniken territory. Here is where Marrs really loses me. Maybe I missed something but is he claiming that this is the hidden knowledge that the secret societies of the world elites hold? That the true origins of the human race are that we are hybridized creations of aliens from another planet?! Hey I'm not an atheist and I believe in a lot of stuff that the average person would consider pretty far out but this is just a bit much even for me. I'm familar with Marrs work and he's a very well researched, down to earth guy normally so it really surprised me that he included this in Rule by Secrecy. Especially considering I've heard him on radio shows several times making fun of David Ickes wacky reptilian theories.

But that aside I'd still recomend reading this book, if not buying it if you can get it for cheap because whats good in this is great. Just take a few things, especially the last chapter, with a few thousand grains of salt. (less)

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Nov 28, 2011

Linda Munro rated it

Have you ever wondered why so many conspiracy theories exist? Have you ever thought that there are more conspiracy theorists than knowledgable people in America? Have you ever complained that the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer? Have you ever heard the poor defend the wealthy and wonder why? Have you ever wondered if today's mindset was prevalent during the 1930's would we have nation highway systems or dams that power massive areas of the country?

Or.....
...moreHave you ever wondered why so many conspiracy theories exist? Have you ever thought that there are more conspiracy theorists than knowledgable people in America? Have you ever complained that the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer? Have you ever heard the poor defend the wealthy and wonder why? Have you ever wondered if today's mindset was prevalent during the 1930's would we have nation highway systems or dams that power massive areas of the country?

Or.....

Are you making less than $100,000 annually yet you feel that the rich should not pay more taxes? Do you complain about things like food stamps and public welfare, even HEAP while you take the dependent examptions or claim child care expenses on your annual tax statement? Have you never realized that these tax exemptions are in reality 'public welfare' have you actually looked into how little someone is forced to live on if they have lost their jobs and run out of unemployment; without realizing your tax exemptions offer more than their annual income? Have you listened to Newt Gingrich complain that those participating in the occupy Wall Street protests are using parks and rest rooms that they didn't pay for, hmmmm, if you agree than something is wrong, taxes pay for these parks and restrooms!

Have you ever complained about your neighbor receiving foodstamps that he doesn't deserve because he makes so little in his annual income that he doesn't pay income tax, without thinking that if he owns a home he is paying local county and town taxes or when he shops he is paying sales tax? Have you ever complained that people expect too much without thinking that a first time elected official (Congress or Senate) starts with an annual salarry of $174,000 plus benefits and expenses, the same public officials that want to cut spending for the poor?

Or....

Are you a person who complains about anything that deals with the poor whicle claiming to be a Christian? Do you read the Bible and skim over the words that 10% of the crops are to be set aside for the poor?

Or....

Are you simply a person who sits back and wonders where did this mindset come from?

Read this book, but don't stop there, read the books from the bibliography and do so with an open mind; stop accepting and start questioning!(less)

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May 01, 2011

Trekscribbler rated it

The beauty of any book written by Jim Marrs is that, even at a hardcover price, it's well worth the investment. Marrs manages to pack his books (ALIEN AGENDA and RULE BY SECRECY, especially) full of facts, figures, analogies, and explanations coinciding with the central theme of his works ... that being the world is not quite what you've been raised to think it is.
RULE BY SECRECY starts extraordinarily academic; the money trail that Marrs investigates does weigh down the first quarter of t...more

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Feb 13, 2011

Martin rated it

I thought that this book was brilliant, though very controversial it gives an insight to how blind we can all be sometimes. Think about it, we as humans realized that we could manipulate each other thousands of years ago hence marking the beginning of Secret Societies.

I know it's what you choose to believe, but for those of you who are curious, look up the facts.

I'm not going to spoil the book for anyone who hasn't read it, but ill give you an example of what the surface is a...more

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Jan 03, 2009

Matt rated it

I have always been interested in secret societies and the general unknown of our world. This book does a good job of tying together all of the societies throughout history. However, it reads very slowly in some areas due to the massive amount of background information and names of peoples/companies involved. I thought the most interesting part was the first part of the book which covers modern day wars and who stands to benefit from causing/supporting/financing them e.g. Rockefellers, Rothschild...more

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Sep 24, 2011

Brenda rated it

Shelves: conspiracy, history-anthropology

A fun and sometimes disturbing read; Disturbing when you find yourself thinking, "hmmm...this seems possible..." and then you feel compelled to read more about it somewhere else. It could all be bullshit; it could be partially true, or maybe none of it is true. I'm sure there are conspiracies. Personal and political coups occur every day. America conspires. People in power often hurt those under them for personal gain. To think that things in the book aren't possible, would be niave. B...more

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Jul 16, 2009

Kyle Wright rated it

Recommends it for: conspiracy nuts

An interesting look at secret societies, Jim Marrs' book has a few problems that keep it from being a good work. First of all is the order in which Marrs approaches his material. He does it in reverse chronological order, starting with current secret societies and then going back in time to the original ones. The problem with this is that at any given point in time that he is covering, he constantly refers to the older societies from which they sprang, but since he hasn't covered them yet, th...more

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Jul 25, 2009

Matt McClard rated it

Shelves: read-in-2009, conspiracies, ufos, unexplained, secret-societies

There is a chance I am crazy. There is a chance that everything in this book is complete nonsense and that these conspirators are doing what ever it is they are doing just to make me paranoid. However, then I guess there could be a chance that all of this crazy talk this is right. That there is a secret knowledge hidden from the masses that push the agenda of others. That these people who own us with our debt have chosen to for reasons unknown to us. I might never know, my guess is that none of ...more

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Oct 19, 2009

Muhannad rated it

This book is a strange case, the author is too much into the whole conspiracy theory thing, way too much I think, he certainly makes good points, and discusses important topics but I felt that he gets carried away, I think this still is an interesting read as long as you have the energy to check the stories from different sources

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Aug 21, 2011

Kelly Feldcamp rated it

Shelves: conspiracy

Again, another conspiracy book that starts out with some fairly lucid arguments and becomes more and more far fetched as you get into it...somehow we went from simple "secret societies" to aliens seeding the earth to create a slave race of humans created for those alien masters...
The further you get into the book, the weirder the hypotheses and the less rigorous are the arguments...but it was a fun read nonetheless...

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May 15, 2010

Mike rated it

Recommends it for: those that don't believe what we're fed by the media

I liked this book but it goes along with the beliefs of my generation. What I thought doesn't matter, read it and form your own opinion. The first half of the book kept my interest, but towards the end I lost interest because it became a bit of a stretch. Definitely will make you think.

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Sep 21, 2011

Cormac rated it

Shelves: the-truth

I can't add anything that the many other reviews don't cover as far as what the book presents etc. Suffice it to say that Jim Marrs is a great researcher and good writer and presents all the material in a logical and clear manner.

For those who think that behind any event, good or bad, stands one lone person perpetrating the act, don't read this and please don't review it. Go back to your corporate media outlets and pablum television shows and stop telling us how crazy we are to believ...more

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Feb 05, 2009

Juanita rated it

One of the best books I've ever read! Although, I'd never put it as one of my interests, this book gave me a unique insight into the understanding of the history of the Federal Reserve... amongst other things.

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Jul 15, 2009

Jason Mierek rated it

Recommended to Jason by: nodozejoze

Shelves: conspiracy, history, politics, freemasonry, jose-recommendation

Connects CFR, Trilateral Commission, Bilderbergers, Morgans, Rothschilds, Templars, Cathars, Rosicrucians, Freemasons, Priory of Sion, sangreal, Gnosticism, Pyramids, and alien astronauts from Sitchin's Nibiru

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Jul 22, 2009

Jason rated it

Great information, passed this one around and got it back 6 months later...dog eared, etc. You know its good when you have a hard time getting it back from multiple readers!!

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Mar 14, 2009

Patton McGinley rated it

I read this two or so months prior to 9/11 and no one listened to me. As Lee Ving would say: "Let's have a WAR! Let our wallets get fat like last time!"

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Aug 13, 2011

Doug Luberts rated it

Marrs is my favorite conspiracy author. I don't believe every theory he propounds, but he makes a good case for the ones he does, and documents it.

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Jul 08, 2011

Thom Young rated it

Marrs rules and he's a Texan. He is an incredible researcher and true patriot. Read even if you trust the government, you might learn something.

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Aug 03, 2010

Ryan rated it

I don't really buy into conspiracy theories, but I think they are a lot of fun. This book covers almost all the classic conspiracies.

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Jan 29, 2009

Robert rated it

Good book by Jim Marrs; this guy knows what is really going on. Behind the scenes secret conspiratorial history... great info.

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Sep 04, 2009

Michael rated it

the real rulers of the world are least known by the public, by that standard i can say we are ignorant of our "leaders"

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Aug 05, 2008

Rae rated it

Shelves: other-non-fiction

The author attempts to expose the world's most closely guarded secrets...how the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderbergers, the CIA, and the Vatican control the world's finances and events. The reviews state that the book is "disturbing, provocative and utterly compelling" but I found it to be a hoot and highly entertaining. I'm sure there's some truth to the theories regarding these secret combinations, but I wasn't astonished or disturbed by what I re...more

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Aug 20, 2009

Courtney Nolen rated it

Dan Brown eat your heart out... Fascinating stuff, conspiracy and all.

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Jun 21, 2009

Tony rated it

Its gets hinky at the end, but otherwise is very informative politically.

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Nov 07, 2010

Steven rated it

Great book! Even though it contains some assumptions and information that would land it in the conspiracy category, most of it is straight history. Definitely a book that makes you think. I'm fascinated with the point where occult beliefs and traditional religious beliefs meet. Most churches gained their core beliefs from the Catholic Church after they murdered all the "heretics" which include other Christian sects like the Cathars that were peaceful. After that most of the biblical te...more

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Feb 24, 2009

Christopher Colegrove rated it

Good book, but not all of his conclusions do I support.

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May 03, 2011

Ron Castle is currently reading it

amazing as well as enlightening

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About Jim Marrs

American journalist and scholar and expert on conspiracies.

Marrs has given lectures about the John F. Kennedy assasination at University of Texas at Arlington.

Marrs is a member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth.

More about Jim Marrs...

Books by Jim Marrs

Alien Agenda: Investigating the Extraterrestrial Presence Among Us

The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America

The Terror Conspiracy: Deception, 9/11 & the Loss of Liberty

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