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Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies: The Straight Scoop on Freemasons, The Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Black Helicopters, The New World Order, and many, many more
Did you know?
• Freemasonry's first American lodge included a young Benjamin Franklin among its members.
• The Knights Templar began as impoverished warrior monks then evolved into bankers.
• Groom Lake, Dreamland, Homey Airport, Paradise Ranch, The Farm, Watertown Strip, Red Square, “The Box,” are all names for Area 51.
An indispensable guide, Cults, Conspiracies, and Secr...more
• Freemasonry's first American lodge included a young Benjamin Franklin among its members.
• The Knights Templar began as impoverished warrior monks then evolved into bankers.
• Groom Lake, Dreamland, Homey Airport, Paradise Ranch, The Farm, Watertown Strip, Red Square, “The Box,” are all names for Area 51.
An indispensable guide, Cults, Conspiracies, and Secr...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
August 11th 2009
by Vintage
(first published 2009)
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this is a guide with different groups/theories listed alphabetically. i decided to read it straight through like a novel. that's probably not the best approach, but i'm on a kick with this sort of thing right now for some reason.
anyway, this is for novice conspiracy aficionados, which suited my needs. don't expect long, digressive explanations, and don't expect to see everything under the sun represented (where for art thou, biggie-and-tupac???). do expect a readable overview and a few answers t...more
anyway, this is for novice conspiracy aficionados, which suited my needs. don't expect long, digressive explanations, and don't expect to see everything under the sun represented (where for art thou, biggie-and-tupac???). do expect a readable overview and a few answers t...more
I almost hated giving this three stars--because it really was interesting.
The discussion of how cults arise and how many are out there was fascinating. Some of them were so nutso that the idea that people would believe it is even crazier. You'd be really amazed how many cult leaders were one (or both) of the two witnesses to the Revelation--and even more have been the Messiah.
Conspiracies were just as engrossing. My guy jokes that I hate conspiracy theories so much that I think they are a cons...more
The discussion of how cults arise and how many are out there was fascinating. Some of them were so nutso that the idea that people would believe it is even crazier. You'd be really amazed how many cult leaders were one (or both) of the two witnesses to the Revelation--and even more have been the Messiah.
Conspiracies were just as engrossing. My guy jokes that I hate conspiracy theories so much that I think they are a cons...more
This is NOT Hunter Thompson embedding himself in the Hell's Angels. This is a general reference book, and gives the author's opinion as to why people engage and join these groups and ideas. My interest in the subject has mostly to do with the Conspiracists. Goldwag's conclusion supports my own--that Conspiracists are akin to Religious Fundamentalists. In other words, they both seek external causal explanation for events; and justify their actions accordingly. In psychological jargon, an external...more
The lengthy title and subtitle of Arthur Goldwag's book, "Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies: The Straight Scoop on Freemasons, The Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Black Helicopters, The New World Order, and many, many more," belies the brevity with which he addresses most of the myriad subjects between the book's covers. It's true even a mildly avid researcher can find on the Internet or in a public library or well-stocked bookstore vast amounts of exhaustively detailed material devoted to...more
Very fun book. Essentially it was an interesting, encyclopedia-like documentation of the most bizarre cults, bizarre conspiracy theories and elusive secret societies, both contemporary and from history. I found the conspiracy theory section the most useful and relevant; I have never understood what compels people to adopt such a bizarre, unsubstantiated worldview. The book offers some insight towards answering this question and then launches into an alphabetic summary of well known and obscure c...more
I don't know why I spent $13 on this book; I almost immediately regretted it. It provides a nice overview-- quite wide-ranging in that it includes groups from all over the world, from a variety of belief systems. It'll quench any mild curiosity, but the writing is pretty terrible and due to the scope, he doesn't get down to the dirty on the groups that deserve another page of the attention. Ultimately, it's a pretty shallow read. I s'pose I should have just bought a book on Jonestown.
As Helter...more
As Helter...more
Thank goodness that Goldwag writes with a wry sense of humor; otherwise I would find it depressing to read about so many irrational people out there who believe such weird things. I read this from cover to cover, even though it seems to be written in the form of a reference book. Goldwag writes with authority as well as humor and never really summarily dismisses even the craziest of beliefs here--that someone believes it, not the belief itself, is the noteworthy fact for him.
Shall we start our o...more
Shall we start our o...more
This book is made up of 3 parts. The first part (Cults) was the best and most interesting part of this book. Next came the conspiracy theories which I believe were written with TOO much bias. The author discredits some theories comparing them to the idea of Intelligent design, as a result the author automatically loses all authority on the matter in my eyes since I, without a doubt, believe in creation. The last part of this book (Secret Societies) was unbearably repetitive since all of these ha...more
The cults section was riveting, as was the conspiracies section. I'm not really into any conspiracy theory, so maybe that information was old news, but I had never read it before. The secret societies section was a bit of a let down, but not due to the writing. It seemed that all the secret societies followed the same pattern - created by a group of like-minded men, gained members, created rituals and secrets (usually based on Masonic mumbo-jumbo), had some influence, "secret" mumbo-jumbo was "d...more
This book read sort of like a Reader's Digest/series of short Wikipedia entries about various cults, secret societies and some of the key conspiracies that people have taken interest in over the last few centuries. Many are known, some are not so known. One certainly learn just enough surface level knowledge of these events. A decent, casual read, one that will seem like either too much or only enough to increase your thirst for more information.
Good introduction to some of the more famous cults, conspiracies, and secret societies of the world. The book doesn't go into incredible detail, but enough to satisfy a mildly curious reader. If you don't want to pick up a tome devoted to one specific cult, etc., and you just want an overview of the more eccentric (to put it nicely) and clandestine aspects of our world, then this is a great book.
Lots of mini-essays on themes like the Masons, 9/11 theories, and Jonestown massacre. The collection of information is nice, but there isn't much new material here. Anyone with a working knowledge of major conspiracy theories and secret societies will have no trouble navigating the book, but again, probably won't pick up much new information.
While a nice reference book for those unfamiliar with the subjects, the author offers too little information in many regards and is blatantly mistaken on more details. Those familiar with the subjects will find little in terms of new information. To it's credit, the book is written in a rather accessible manner and will no doubt prove useful for those having their first brushes with the subjects.
A fun and incredibly well researched look at the wacky world of conspiracies, cults, and secret societies. Highly recommended for when you need to make sense of the Freemasons, the Illuminati, religious cults, and anything having to do with militias or the New World Order!
A good quick reference book. Covers alot of different ones but due to the number covered they are quite brief. A good overview of just how many cults and secret societies and theories are floating around and their roots.
The middle section on conspiracies was old news because just about any conspiracy theory eventually works it's way up to the Masons, Illuminati, the Jews or all three. But the sections on cults and secret societies were fascinating.
I read this bool as a change of pace, I was kind of expecting it to be off the wall, but the author was quite serious and obviously did some research. His views were actually well balanced and fair. Not a bad read if you are into this sort of thing.
Very interesting read. It is broken up into three sections, Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies, and then within each section, there is a blurb about each included group. It is more a display of facts rather than explaining the psychology and effects of the groups, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
A comprehensive list of weirdness but not much more.
Never can find one with the Orders that I want.
An interesting subject made very dry.
brilliant, engaging, and informative
Insightful, lively.
Oct 19, 2011
Katy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those interested in this topic seeking general info
Shelves:
crazy-conspiracy-theories
Lots of great information in this book, and it is quite broad in scope, while not as in-depth as I would have liked. I would also have liked a bibliography and/or some references, but this book was meant to be general information. For those seeking general information about a variety of groups and societies, this is a good starting point.
Boooooorrrrrring! This author took a subject that should have been a page turner and made it as smoothly written as an outdated Encyclopedia. What a disappointing snooze-fest. By the way, I don't think that bigger words=better, more-informed writing. Quite the opposite, as a matter of fact.
While it was relatively interesting, I was ultimately disappointed. There was so much covered, but it all just left me wanting to read more. Which might be a good thing.
Read in anticipation of a discussion on Houdini's Revenge.
Great reference. Invaluable.
Good stuff. Pretty honest and thorough.
May 16, 2013
David
marked it as to-read
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Arthur Goldwag is the author of Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies, and of -Isms and -Ologies. He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife and family.
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Dec 19, 2009 06:55am