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THE PLOT--THE SECRET STORY OF THE PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION
A work more disturbing than fiction from "the father of graphic novels" (New York Times). "The ultimate illustration of how absurdly comical and cancerous 'The Protocols' has been to mankind."—Thane Rosenbaum, Los Angeles Times Book ReviewThe Plot, which examines the astonishing conspiracy and the fabrication of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, has become a worldwide phenomenon since its hardcover publication, taught in classrooms around the globe. Purported to be the actual blueprints by Jewish leaders to take over the world, the Protocols, first published in 1902, have become gospel truth to international millions. Presenting a pageant of historical figures from nineteenth-century Russia to today's ideologues, including Tsar Nicholas II, Henry Ford, and Adolf Hitler, Will Eisner unravels and dispels one of the most devastating hoaxes of the twentieth century.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
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1717 people want to read
About the author
Will Eisner
758 books530 followersWilliam Erwin Eisner was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series The Spirit (1940–1952) was noted for its experiments in content and form. In 1978, he popularized the term "graphic novel" with the publication of his book A Contract with God. He was an early contributor to formal comics studies with his book Comics and Sequential Art (1985). The Eisner Award was named in his honor and is given to recognize achievements each year in the comics medium; he was one of the three inaugural inductees to the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.
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September 20, 2025
Will Eisner at his best...dealing with the worst of subject matters. It is amazing to me how much damage and pain this hateful lie has inflicted on the Jewish people. The fact that anyone can believe the Protocols tells you everything you need to know; that hate has eclipsed reason - and that there are always those who will cast the long shadow anti-Semitism when reason is eclipsed.
September 19, 2016
This was Will Eisner's last graphic novel - or book of sequential art; in it, he presents the evidence that has debunked the fraud of the racist pamphlet that fueled antisemitism in Europe - and later worldwide.
I'd heard about the "Protocols" but didn't know much about it until I read Eisner's account - I knew the racist tract was part of the racist European mindset that led to World War II - this easy-to-understand graphic art telling of the story of the publication, is probably the best way to understand the complex background of the evil work. It turns out that the "Protocols" was hatched by conservative/reactionary elements in Russia, hoping to prop up the repressive Tsarist regime by blaming the Jews for all of Russia's woes. It was secretly distributed/published so that it's authorship would not immediately be traceable to elements of the Tsar's secret police. It supposedly represented the proceedings of a meeting of Jews, but the work is actually based on an older book by a Frenchman which criticized Louis Napoleon, by likening him to Machiavelli. In the "Protocols" Machiavelli is transformed into a Jew, or the Jew.
Obviously, there had been antisemitism in Europe for centuries - the "Protocols" didn't start the racism in Europe. But the mysterious appearance of the work, caused people to think that this work was actually an account smuggled out of a secret meeting, which outlined the Jews' plans to take over the world - seemed "plausible" or "authoritative" and people, many of whom were already antisemitic or prejudiced to begin with - then seized on the phony tract as "proof" of their fears/prejudices. Unfortunately, the book sparked pogroms in Russia which led to the deaths of thousands of Jews, and was considered factual by Hitler.
The context of the book - it was written at the time of the Dreyfus affair in France - explains why its appearance was so influential, and why the book became a best-seller, second only to sales of the Bible. Reactionary forces identified Jews with modernity, capitalism, also socialism, also the Bolsheviks - and this pamphlet was perfect to bolster their contentions of a world-wide Jewish conspiracy. Antisemitism was intense in France when Dreyfus was falsely accused of revealing state secrets to the Germans - so the book was ammunition for the virulent anti-Dreyfus people and the reactionaries, who wished to keep the ancien regime in place, rather than allow more social mixing, and mobility. All "isms" - socialism, capitalism, communism, globalism, internationalism - could be blamed on the Jews, if the Jews' purpose was a Jewish takeover of the world. You can still see echoes of these reactionary beliefs today - perhaps no longer couched in purely antisemitic terms, but nonetheless the reaction against modernity, globalization, and so forth, is quite similar to the reaction against modernity, internationalism, democracy that was taking place in the waning years of Tsarist rule in Russia, just before the Russian Revolution.
Unfortunately, the racist tract never went out of print somewhere in the world in dozens of translations, since the time it was put together by a Russian secret police agent in the late 19th Century, and foolish people continue to be duped in reading it and thinking it actually represents the blueprint - somehow smuggled out of a mysterious meeting - for Jewish world domination. Unfortunately, it is people that cannot find answers otherwise, who may turn to these lies as the truth, and use them to justify all sorts of bad acts - we know there is still antisemitism today in France, and in some other countries Jews still sometimes have a hard time. Even if you show people the book was bunkum, written to defame the Jews and thus elevate the Tsar as the protector of the "pure" Russians, some will still see the book as somehow "confirming" what they always thought or suspected, they will think it's authentic. This is very sad - but whether or not people actually read the book, we know that antisemitism is a reality, prejudice is a reality. The only thing we can do is disabuse people of their erroneous impressions if and when we come across them. This book is nothing but lies - sadly, it was the rampant antisemitism in France at the time of the Dreyfus trial, that caused Herzl to advocate for the departure of the Jews from Europe and resettlement in the Holy Land. The antisemitism was there, before the book was widely distributed - the phony, defamatory book probably fueled it even more. Unfortunately, it probably also fed the madness in Germany that led to WWII.
This book is really well-done, beautifully drawn and written - despite the dreadful subject. The author died shortly after it was published - it's a kind of memorial to the originator of the graphic novel. He does achieve clarity in this book, the reader does understand exactly what happened, why this phony PR was written and who it benefited (the reactionaries at the Tsar's court vs. the modernizers, like Witte). The book "served its purpose" in boosting the reactionaries, and possibly enhancing the inept and cruel Tsar's standing - but then, like an out-of-control evil cloud, the book began appearing worldwide, translated in many different languages, making a buck for unscrupulous publishers of the drivel, which simply fed peoples' prejudice.
I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to find out about this evil pamphlet - it clearly explains what happened, why the pamphlet was produced, the context of the Dreyfus trial, and so forth. Remember: None of it was real; it was written by a Tsarist police agent to cast blame on the Jews and thus boost the conservative/reactionaries/landed gentry etc. It was actually plagiarized from an earlier book written in France which likened the French emperor Louis Napoleon to Machiavelli. The Jews, in the "Protocols" were simply/falsely given the part of Machiavelli in the plagiarized bogus work.
I'd heard about the "Protocols" but didn't know much about it until I read Eisner's account - I knew the racist tract was part of the racist European mindset that led to World War II - this easy-to-understand graphic art telling of the story of the publication, is probably the best way to understand the complex background of the evil work. It turns out that the "Protocols" was hatched by conservative/reactionary elements in Russia, hoping to prop up the repressive Tsarist regime by blaming the Jews for all of Russia's woes. It was secretly distributed/published so that it's authorship would not immediately be traceable to elements of the Tsar's secret police. It supposedly represented the proceedings of a meeting of Jews, but the work is actually based on an older book by a Frenchman which criticized Louis Napoleon, by likening him to Machiavelli. In the "Protocols" Machiavelli is transformed into a Jew, or the Jew.
Obviously, there had been antisemitism in Europe for centuries - the "Protocols" didn't start the racism in Europe. But the mysterious appearance of the work, caused people to think that this work was actually an account smuggled out of a secret meeting, which outlined the Jews' plans to take over the world - seemed "plausible" or "authoritative" and people, many of whom were already antisemitic or prejudiced to begin with - then seized on the phony tract as "proof" of their fears/prejudices. Unfortunately, the book sparked pogroms in Russia which led to the deaths of thousands of Jews, and was considered factual by Hitler.
The context of the book - it was written at the time of the Dreyfus affair in France - explains why its appearance was so influential, and why the book became a best-seller, second only to sales of the Bible. Reactionary forces identified Jews with modernity, capitalism, also socialism, also the Bolsheviks - and this pamphlet was perfect to bolster their contentions of a world-wide Jewish conspiracy. Antisemitism was intense in France when Dreyfus was falsely accused of revealing state secrets to the Germans - so the book was ammunition for the virulent anti-Dreyfus people and the reactionaries, who wished to keep the ancien regime in place, rather than allow more social mixing, and mobility. All "isms" - socialism, capitalism, communism, globalism, internationalism - could be blamed on the Jews, if the Jews' purpose was a Jewish takeover of the world. You can still see echoes of these reactionary beliefs today - perhaps no longer couched in purely antisemitic terms, but nonetheless the reaction against modernity, globalization, and so forth, is quite similar to the reaction against modernity, internationalism, democracy that was taking place in the waning years of Tsarist rule in Russia, just before the Russian Revolution.
Unfortunately, the racist tract never went out of print somewhere in the world in dozens of translations, since the time it was put together by a Russian secret police agent in the late 19th Century, and foolish people continue to be duped in reading it and thinking it actually represents the blueprint - somehow smuggled out of a mysterious meeting - for Jewish world domination. Unfortunately, it is people that cannot find answers otherwise, who may turn to these lies as the truth, and use them to justify all sorts of bad acts - we know there is still antisemitism today in France, and in some other countries Jews still sometimes have a hard time. Even if you show people the book was bunkum, written to defame the Jews and thus elevate the Tsar as the protector of the "pure" Russians, some will still see the book as somehow "confirming" what they always thought or suspected, they will think it's authentic. This is very sad - but whether or not people actually read the book, we know that antisemitism is a reality, prejudice is a reality. The only thing we can do is disabuse people of their erroneous impressions if and when we come across them. This book is nothing but lies - sadly, it was the rampant antisemitism in France at the time of the Dreyfus trial, that caused Herzl to advocate for the departure of the Jews from Europe and resettlement in the Holy Land. The antisemitism was there, before the book was widely distributed - the phony, defamatory book probably fueled it even more. Unfortunately, it probably also fed the madness in Germany that led to WWII.
This book is really well-done, beautifully drawn and written - despite the dreadful subject. The author died shortly after it was published - it's a kind of memorial to the originator of the graphic novel. He does achieve clarity in this book, the reader does understand exactly what happened, why this phony PR was written and who it benefited (the reactionaries at the Tsar's court vs. the modernizers, like Witte). The book "served its purpose" in boosting the reactionaries, and possibly enhancing the inept and cruel Tsar's standing - but then, like an out-of-control evil cloud, the book began appearing worldwide, translated in many different languages, making a buck for unscrupulous publishers of the drivel, which simply fed peoples' prejudice.
I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to find out about this evil pamphlet - it clearly explains what happened, why the pamphlet was produced, the context of the Dreyfus trial, and so forth. Remember: None of it was real; it was written by a Tsarist police agent to cast blame on the Jews and thus boost the conservative/reactionaries/landed gentry etc. It was actually plagiarized from an earlier book written in France which likened the French emperor Louis Napoleon to Machiavelli. The Jews, in the "Protocols" were simply/falsely given the part of Machiavelli in the plagiarized bogus work.
November 28, 2015
I read this book because Umberto Eco mentioned it in a collection of his essays. The idea of a leading thinker like Eco writing the introduction to a non-fiction graphic novel intrigued me. I was not disappointed.
Eisner took on the story of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," deconstructing its origins, and detailing the insidious ends to which it has been utilized. I had never heard of this document before reading The Davinci Code. It was one of the elements that Dan Brown used to stir people up, and he certainly succeeded in doing that.
After reading Eisner, I have no doubt that the "The Protocols" is a fraud, and a nasty example of antisemitism.
Eisner took on the story of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," deconstructing its origins, and detailing the insidious ends to which it has been utilized. I had never heard of this document before reading The Davinci Code. It was one of the elements that Dan Brown used to stir people up, and he certainly succeeded in doing that.
After reading Eisner, I have no doubt that the "The Protocols" is a fraud, and a nasty example of antisemitism.
April 8, 2024
Will Eisner, the cartoonist-innovator who singlehandedly created the "Graphic Novel" format, presents a great factual overview of the societal need of the "many" to place blame on, and unite against, the blameless, the less powerful, "few" -- "the other."
This graphic novel charts the rise of a fabricated document ("The Protocols of the Elders of Zion") supposedly drafted by the Jews themselves, which then became convenient evidence for any would-be despot, dictator, rabble-rouser, or thug, to demonstrate that the imagined threat of "the other" -- the Jews -- against all mankind is in fact real.
The Plot that's central to the book's title, begins in Russia and France, in the 1880s with the fabrication of -- the writing of the fraudulently created, anti-Semitic tract -- "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."
The Plot involves the publication and distribution of this tract -- a hoax describing a cabal-conjured Plot, by the Elders of the Jewish community, for World Domination and subjugation. The Jews (of course) seek to subjugate all "other races" of people on Earth. Those despots seeking power and dominion over the "many" needed the fiction of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" to unify the "many" under their despotic leadership by justifying persecution of the Jewish "few."
A whole host -- an entire history -- of Pogroms and anti-Semitic violence waged against the Jews needed to be carried out for "a reason," and "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" were that reason -- without regard to its fraudulent origin -- and it was convenient, made to order, and served-up on a silver platter!
The Plot, at its inception, involves creating the fake and hastily written (plagiarized) basis to justify the savage mistreatment of the Jews in Russia in the 1880s, and the discrimination against the Jews in France. The fraudulent tract is fabricated to explain civil unrest in Tsarist Russia. It is written against the backdrop of the Dreyfus affair and its attendant French miscarriage of justice, driven by insidious French anti-Semitism.
"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" quickly gained traction, is still widely believed to be true (even after it has been repeatedly proven to be a hoax), and has been used to justify everything from World War I era Pogroms, to the rise of Hitler, the Nazi party, Catholic anti-Semitism rooted firmly in the Vatican, Fascism in Italy, World War II, the Zionist zeal for a homeland, and the anti-Zionism in the Arab world. The fake tract was even promoted heavily by Henry Ford, back in the days of the Model-T . . . right here in the USA.
Eisner traces the seemingly innate anti-Semitism of mankind -- it truly appears to be universal the world over -- during the period of time from the 1880s through the 21st Century. The fake "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" has been translated into more languages than you'd imagine, and is alive and well to this day (all over the World and again, right here, in America, during the era of Trump. It is like the Trump play-book, if you ask me).
4 Stars.
This is a good primer on worldwide anti-Semitism and left me wanting to understand more. I have already read about the vile zealotry of present day Zionism as manifested in the mistreatment of Palestinians, and presented by authors Ilan Pappé, Edward Said, Rashid Khalid and Alison Weir. But this vile zealotry of Zionism has its roots in European anti-Semitism as embodied in "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." It is the EUROPEANS, and not the Arabs, that are the original gangstas of anti-Semitism.
In short, the Eisner graphic novel has gotten me interested in finding the root causes of the anti-Semitic current flowing through the European mistreatment of the Jews.
Europe seems like it was the anti-Semitic ground zero that unleashed (in the first place) the virulent Zionism on display since 1947 (and now rearing its ugly head again in 2023-24 at the expense of the poor Palestinians). How much more violence and how many more war crimes can Israel perpetrate in Gaza and in the West Bank? The Zionists seem to find comfort in treating the Palestinians like hell simply because Europe did to the Jews EXACTLY what the Jews are doing to the innocents of Gaza and the West Bank. Enough of the bulls*t already. Enough.
Because the real source of much of the Middle Eastern Zionist problems today stem from the French and the British anti-Semitic policies during the course of WWI and WWII (with a giant assist from team Hitler in the 1930s -1940s, and from the inbred self-interested leaders of Tsarist Russia in the 1880s), the NEXT BOOK I NEED TO STUDY: "Europe Against the Jews, 1880 - 1945," by Götz Aly.
This graphic novel charts the rise of a fabricated document ("The Protocols of the Elders of Zion") supposedly drafted by the Jews themselves, which then became convenient evidence for any would-be despot, dictator, rabble-rouser, or thug, to demonstrate that the imagined threat of "the other" -- the Jews -- against all mankind is in fact real.
The Plot that's central to the book's title, begins in Russia and France, in the 1880s with the fabrication of -- the writing of the fraudulently created, anti-Semitic tract -- "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."
The Plot involves the publication and distribution of this tract -- a hoax describing a cabal-conjured Plot, by the Elders of the Jewish community, for World Domination and subjugation. The Jews (of course) seek to subjugate all "other races" of people on Earth. Those despots seeking power and dominion over the "many" needed the fiction of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" to unify the "many" under their despotic leadership by justifying persecution of the Jewish "few."
A whole host -- an entire history -- of Pogroms and anti-Semitic violence waged against the Jews needed to be carried out for "a reason," and "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" were that reason -- without regard to its fraudulent origin -- and it was convenient, made to order, and served-up on a silver platter!
The Plot, at its inception, involves creating the fake and hastily written (plagiarized) basis to justify the savage mistreatment of the Jews in Russia in the 1880s, and the discrimination against the Jews in France. The fraudulent tract is fabricated to explain civil unrest in Tsarist Russia. It is written against the backdrop of the Dreyfus affair and its attendant French miscarriage of justice, driven by insidious French anti-Semitism.
"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" quickly gained traction, is still widely believed to be true (even after it has been repeatedly proven to be a hoax), and has been used to justify everything from World War I era Pogroms, to the rise of Hitler, the Nazi party, Catholic anti-Semitism rooted firmly in the Vatican, Fascism in Italy, World War II, the Zionist zeal for a homeland, and the anti-Zionism in the Arab world. The fake tract was even promoted heavily by Henry Ford, back in the days of the Model-T . . . right here in the USA.
Eisner traces the seemingly innate anti-Semitism of mankind -- it truly appears to be universal the world over -- during the period of time from the 1880s through the 21st Century. The fake "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" has been translated into more languages than you'd imagine, and is alive and well to this day (all over the World and again, right here, in America, during the era of Trump. It is like the Trump play-book, if you ask me).
4 Stars.
This is a good primer on worldwide anti-Semitism and left me wanting to understand more. I have already read about the vile zealotry of present day Zionism as manifested in the mistreatment of Palestinians, and presented by authors Ilan Pappé, Edward Said, Rashid Khalid and Alison Weir. But this vile zealotry of Zionism has its roots in European anti-Semitism as embodied in "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." It is the EUROPEANS, and not the Arabs, that are the original gangstas of anti-Semitism.
In short, the Eisner graphic novel has gotten me interested in finding the root causes of the anti-Semitic current flowing through the European mistreatment of the Jews.
Europe seems like it was the anti-Semitic ground zero that unleashed (in the first place) the virulent Zionism on display since 1947 (and now rearing its ugly head again in 2023-24 at the expense of the poor Palestinians). How much more violence and how many more war crimes can Israel perpetrate in Gaza and in the West Bank? The Zionists seem to find comfort in treating the Palestinians like hell simply because Europe did to the Jews EXACTLY what the Jews are doing to the innocents of Gaza and the West Bank. Enough of the bulls*t already. Enough.
Because the real source of much of the Middle Eastern Zionist problems today stem from the French and the British anti-Semitic policies during the course of WWI and WWII (with a giant assist from team Hitler in the 1930s -1940s, and from the inbred self-interested leaders of Tsarist Russia in the 1880s), the NEXT BOOK I NEED TO STUDY: "Europe Against the Jews, 1880 - 1945," by Götz Aly.
June 17, 2020
No longer using this website, but I'm leaving up old reviews. Fuck Jeff Bezos. Find me on LibraryThing: https://www.librarything.com/profile/...
After an unfortunate sighting of "The Protocols" at an event, I wanted to be prepared to confront this anti-Semitic reactionary filth whenever I saw it. This book gave me exactly what I needed: a thorough explanation on how this bullshit text came about, and how it spread across the planet.
Created by the most reactionary advisors to Csar Nicholas II, The Protocols were a piece of disinformation created to influence him away from Enlightenment principles and back toward the medieval relationship the Csar had towards the Catholic Church and feudal lords. These were supposed to be the meeting minutes of a comparatively harmless congress of Zionists (As atrocious as the current state of affairs is in Isreal, Jewish nationalism was not at that time a threat to anyone...). These advisors took a fairly obscure satirical text about France under Napoleon, a text which implicated Napoleon in undermining French society, made a shoddy translation into Russian, and basically replaced the word Napoleon and Machiavelli with Jew. The dumb Csar, who already hated the Jews, panicked and anti-Jewish pogroms (race riots) swept the country. Csar Nicholas II used royal printing presses to popularize the book.
Conservative and reactionary Russians who fled the country after the fall of the Csar in 1905 brought this text with them all over the world, including the United States. Here, the notorious anti-Semite Henry Ford came upon it, and republished it as fact in a newspaper he ran, in order to undermine worker organizing in his factory. It also made its way into Germany, where another notorious anti-Semite got ahold of it: Adolf Hitler. It thoroughly influenced his thinking, and his mad scheme to unify all of Germany under one state. According to the Protocols, Jews were undermining states worldwide, so Hitler came up with a terrifying solution to how to deal with a non-German population that refused to be assimilated within his state's borders. It was these three men who are responsible for the immense popularity of the text.
Meanwhile, this book has been publicly debunked as a fraud. Many times. It is the great lie that will not die. No matter how thoroughly it is debunked, it lives on in the cover of the dimness of reactionary assholes and anti-Semites. Because it never mattered whether it was true. You can trace a thread of anti-Semitism throughout history since Rome, where the Jews were vilified and crucified for being anti-colonial fighters.
Buy or borrow this book (I got it used for $3 including shipping on abebooks.com). Make your friends and family read it. Kill the lie that has been holding back not only Jews, but the liberation of humanity. Don't think so? Reexamine who uses this text: Adolf Hitler, Henry Ford, Csar Nicholas. They all thought that the perpetuation of this book would keep them in power. It's time to bury this embarassing lie.
The book loses a star because it was too short. I want to know much more about the effects of the Protocols. How has the lies perpetuated in The Protocols helped to put in things which are "common knowledge" about Jews (such as that they are bankers who control everything)? How have the Protocols been used recently? If any readers of this review know about a longer-form text that I could read about this topic, please drop a comment below with the book.
After an unfortunate sighting of "The Protocols" at an event, I wanted to be prepared to confront this anti-Semitic reactionary filth whenever I saw it. This book gave me exactly what I needed: a thorough explanation on how this bullshit text came about, and how it spread across the planet.
Created by the most reactionary advisors to Csar Nicholas II, The Protocols were a piece of disinformation created to influence him away from Enlightenment principles and back toward the medieval relationship the Csar had towards the Catholic Church and feudal lords. These were supposed to be the meeting minutes of a comparatively harmless congress of Zionists (As atrocious as the current state of affairs is in Isreal, Jewish nationalism was not at that time a threat to anyone...). These advisors took a fairly obscure satirical text about France under Napoleon, a text which implicated Napoleon in undermining French society, made a shoddy translation into Russian, and basically replaced the word Napoleon and Machiavelli with Jew. The dumb Csar, who already hated the Jews, panicked and anti-Jewish pogroms (race riots) swept the country. Csar Nicholas II used royal printing presses to popularize the book.
Conservative and reactionary Russians who fled the country after the fall of the Csar in 1905 brought this text with them all over the world, including the United States. Here, the notorious anti-Semite Henry Ford came upon it, and republished it as fact in a newspaper he ran, in order to undermine worker organizing in his factory. It also made its way into Germany, where another notorious anti-Semite got ahold of it: Adolf Hitler. It thoroughly influenced his thinking, and his mad scheme to unify all of Germany under one state. According to the Protocols, Jews were undermining states worldwide, so Hitler came up with a terrifying solution to how to deal with a non-German population that refused to be assimilated within his state's borders. It was these three men who are responsible for the immense popularity of the text.
Meanwhile, this book has been publicly debunked as a fraud. Many times. It is the great lie that will not die. No matter how thoroughly it is debunked, it lives on in the cover of the dimness of reactionary assholes and anti-Semites. Because it never mattered whether it was true. You can trace a thread of anti-Semitism throughout history since Rome, where the Jews were vilified and crucified for being anti-colonial fighters.
Buy or borrow this book (I got it used for $3 including shipping on abebooks.com). Make your friends and family read it. Kill the lie that has been holding back not only Jews, but the liberation of humanity. Don't think so? Reexamine who uses this text: Adolf Hitler, Henry Ford, Csar Nicholas. They all thought that the perpetuation of this book would keep them in power. It's time to bury this embarassing lie.
The book loses a star because it was too short. I want to know much more about the effects of the Protocols. How has the lies perpetuated in The Protocols helped to put in things which are "common knowledge" about Jews (such as that they are bankers who control everything)? How have the Protocols been used recently? If any readers of this review know about a longer-form text that I could read about this topic, please drop a comment below with the book.
May 7, 2013
Well, that was quick.
I thought this was going to be my book for tonight, maybe finish it tomorrow. Instead, I'm writing down some thoughts so I can start a new one and stay up a little longer. Still, it was a good read-- at least as good as a comic book about one of the most insidious plots in the history of the world can be.
Obviously, I don't mean the plot of the Protocols themselves. I've known those to be a fake for as long as I've known they existed. The Plot The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion isn't even the first book I've read on the subject, though it is the best. I read Eco's The Prague Cemetery and found it repetitive and boring, though not without humor and clever devices. Still, I read it because I'm a fan of Eco, and I was interested in the premise. The latter is what led me to this book.
I wasn't aware of antisemitism until I married my wife. Actually, it was years after that I realized the extent of hatred people have for Jews. My wife is Jewish, but didn't really become an active Jew until we moved here to Columbia, South Carolina. Before you laugh, know that Charleston, just an hour or so south, is home to the oldest, continuous Reform congregation in the US. There's a strong Jewish connection. There's also a strong redneck connection, and a (seemingly requisite) history of antisemitism. Sadly, it is probably no worse than anywhere else in the country.
So as my wife became more active in her temple, I learned why there are door chimes that ring whenever someone enters a synagogue: Jewish congregants and temple workers need at all times to know when someone enters the building. Down the street, the gigantic Baptist church hires a cop or two every Sunday to direct traffic. Each time my wife's temple has an event, or the conservative synagogue down the street holds a community service, they hire cops, too. Only in addition to the uniformed officers, they get an undercover detective or two. Not because they're paranoid, but because of tracks like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Someday, if i'm lucky enough to have children, they will be Jews. And there will be plenty of people in the world who will hate them for that simple fact. What makes this graphic novel so powerful is not the actual quality of it-- the dialog sounds like an infomercial at times-- but that it seeks to un-do the damage this tract started a century ago. I am doubtful it will, but here's hoping. What the book makes very clear toward the end is that people keep believing in the Protocols because they want to. It's depressing.
I thought this was going to be my book for tonight, maybe finish it tomorrow. Instead, I'm writing down some thoughts so I can start a new one and stay up a little longer. Still, it was a good read-- at least as good as a comic book about one of the most insidious plots in the history of the world can be.
Obviously, I don't mean the plot of the Protocols themselves. I've known those to be a fake for as long as I've known they existed. The Plot The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion isn't even the first book I've read on the subject, though it is the best. I read Eco's The Prague Cemetery and found it repetitive and boring, though not without humor and clever devices. Still, I read it because I'm a fan of Eco, and I was interested in the premise. The latter is what led me to this book.
I wasn't aware of antisemitism until I married my wife. Actually, it was years after that I realized the extent of hatred people have for Jews. My wife is Jewish, but didn't really become an active Jew until we moved here to Columbia, South Carolina. Before you laugh, know that Charleston, just an hour or so south, is home to the oldest, continuous Reform congregation in the US. There's a strong Jewish connection. There's also a strong redneck connection, and a (seemingly requisite) history of antisemitism. Sadly, it is probably no worse than anywhere else in the country.
So as my wife became more active in her temple, I learned why there are door chimes that ring whenever someone enters a synagogue: Jewish congregants and temple workers need at all times to know when someone enters the building. Down the street, the gigantic Baptist church hires a cop or two every Sunday to direct traffic. Each time my wife's temple has an event, or the conservative synagogue down the street holds a community service, they hire cops, too. Only in addition to the uniformed officers, they get an undercover detective or two. Not because they're paranoid, but because of tracks like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Someday, if i'm lucky enough to have children, they will be Jews. And there will be plenty of people in the world who will hate them for that simple fact. What makes this graphic novel so powerful is not the actual quality of it-- the dialog sounds like an infomercial at times-- but that it seeks to un-do the damage this tract started a century ago. I am doubtful it will, but here's hoping. What the book makes very clear toward the end is that people keep believing in the Protocols because they want to. It's depressing.
October 3, 2007
Will Eisner was one of the most influential graphic artists of the 20th century. He pioneered the graphic novel form, and his life partially inspired Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Sadly, Eisner passed away in January, but not before he finished what might be his finest effort. The Plot uncovers the origins of the most infamous and most inflammatory anti-Semitic documents of all time. Originally published in Russia in 1905, The Protocols have been used to justify oppression and even obliteration of Jews by Tsar Nicholas II, Henry Ford, Adolf Hitler, present-day Arabs, white supremacists, and many others. All this despite the fact that the document was a hoax. The Protocols tells the story of a purported Jewish conspiracy to control the world. The hoax was first revealed by the Times of London in 1921 and on many more occasions, yet the damaging articles are currently in print in many languages and are used by hate groups throughout the world as an illustration of the "Jewish menace." This exquisitely rendered graphic novel is divided into two sections. The opening two-thirds recounts the history and events surrounding The Protocols, including detailed evidence of the hoax. The latter part follows Eisner as he researches and uncovers the full origins of what Umberto Eco in his introduction dubs "The Big Lie." The novel concludes with visions of what The Protocols means in our contemporary world. It's not pretty. Eisner once again demonstrates the power of the graphic form in his interpretation of this controversial and disturbing aspect of history. In his afterword, historian Stephen Eric Bronner describes The Plot as "a fitting legacy [to] a long and distinguished career." I couldn't agree more.
(This review originally appeared in The Austin Chronicle, June 10, 2005.)
Link: [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyroba...]
(This review originally appeared in The Austin Chronicle, June 10, 2005.)
Link: [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyroba...]
May 8, 2015
This is the last work of the famous cartoonist Will Eisner. What this work is about is no laughing matter and is more a tragedy than a comic, as the forward mentioned. This graphic novel is about an alleged secret document that supposedly proved a secret agenda and plan by Jewish leaders to take over the world. This document, called the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, has been perpetuated for decades by various group of people with varying agendas but whom all unite under the banner of anti-Semitism. Although repeatedly proven as a fraud in scholarly sources unfortunately a lot of these evidences against the document have been as accessible for most common people. This Graphic Novel is Eisner’s contribution to combat against the propaganda. I think Eisner understood the power of the medium in reaching the masses through Graphic Novel which is more mainstream for our society than academic works. And yet as the Graphic Novel approaches the end Eisner himself shows his awareness that some will be convinced no matter what the evidence is because they have already made up their mind as to what to believe.
Through this book I learned that Mathieu Golovinski was the source of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Golovinski was a Russian forger and plagiarizer working for the Russian Secret Police. He has spent a portion of his childhood in France and was thus an asset for the Russians to use to try to doctor a false document that allegedly showed a plot of Jews wanting to take over the world. This was originally planted in French newspaper and then used by Golovinski handlers to pressure the Tsar of Russia against modernizing policies. Unfortunately The Protocols went on to have a larger life of its own.
Golovniski plagiarized heavily from a French writer name Marcie Joly who wrote a book titled The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu that was originally a literary piece critical of Napoleon. I appreciate that though this is a Graphic Novel it was serious enough of a topic that Eisner presented a side by side comparision between the works for the readers to come to their own conclusion that The Protocols was plagerized. I appreciated the fact that this Graphic Novel had “end notes” to show where one can find the original source of the quotation!
This Graphic Novel tells the story of how a Russian séances name Sergius Nilus who was a competitor to Rasputin published in his books The Protocol to attack the Jews. This helped spread the malicious use of The Protocol. The book also show how the Nazis, the Soviets, the Klu Klux Klan, Marxists and Islamists also published the Protocol as being true even though it has been continuously refuted. In terms of the history of the document being debunked it began with a British foreign correspondent name Philip Graves when he was working at Constantinople in 1921 for “The Times” of London. Graves was sold a copy of The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu by a Russian Émigré who pointed out to him that The Protocol was a plagiary. Graves published his finding in the newspaper and also had the book authenticated and compared to other copies. As decades went on more problems were pointed out by others concerning the document. The Graphic Novel also show the author Will Eisner going about researching on The Protocol.
I enjoyed the graphic novel very much and found the introduction and afterwards helpful. The introduction was written by Umberto Eco who have written as a scholar exposing The Protocol, specifically with how it has stolen ideas from Eugene Sue’s Le Juif Errant that tells of the Jesuits plans and agenda. Stephen Eric Bronner, a political scientist at Rutgers also wrote the afterwards. It was helpful to see that the book also have a bibliography for further research; and I plan to study more on this topic in the near future.
Through this book I learned that Mathieu Golovinski was the source of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Golovinski was a Russian forger and plagiarizer working for the Russian Secret Police. He has spent a portion of his childhood in France and was thus an asset for the Russians to use to try to doctor a false document that allegedly showed a plot of Jews wanting to take over the world. This was originally planted in French newspaper and then used by Golovinski handlers to pressure the Tsar of Russia against modernizing policies. Unfortunately The Protocols went on to have a larger life of its own.
Golovniski plagiarized heavily from a French writer name Marcie Joly who wrote a book titled The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu that was originally a literary piece critical of Napoleon. I appreciate that though this is a Graphic Novel it was serious enough of a topic that Eisner presented a side by side comparision between the works for the readers to come to their own conclusion that The Protocols was plagerized. I appreciated the fact that this Graphic Novel had “end notes” to show where one can find the original source of the quotation!
This Graphic Novel tells the story of how a Russian séances name Sergius Nilus who was a competitor to Rasputin published in his books The Protocol to attack the Jews. This helped spread the malicious use of The Protocol. The book also show how the Nazis, the Soviets, the Klu Klux Klan, Marxists and Islamists also published the Protocol as being true even though it has been continuously refuted. In terms of the history of the document being debunked it began with a British foreign correspondent name Philip Graves when he was working at Constantinople in 1921 for “The Times” of London. Graves was sold a copy of The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu by a Russian Émigré who pointed out to him that The Protocol was a plagiary. Graves published his finding in the newspaper and also had the book authenticated and compared to other copies. As decades went on more problems were pointed out by others concerning the document. The Graphic Novel also show the author Will Eisner going about researching on The Protocol.
I enjoyed the graphic novel very much and found the introduction and afterwards helpful. The introduction was written by Umberto Eco who have written as a scholar exposing The Protocol, specifically with how it has stolen ideas from Eugene Sue’s Le Juif Errant that tells of the Jesuits plans and agenda. Stephen Eric Bronner, a political scientist at Rutgers also wrote the afterwards. It was helpful to see that the book also have a bibliography for further research; and I plan to study more on this topic in the near future.
August 4, 2013
I found this title while reading reviews of The Prague Cemetery. Reviewer Michael May noted it as a providing "context which makes The Prague Cemetery much more enjoyable". Wanting more information on The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion, I thought I'd give this a try and I'm glad I did.
This book starts at the beginning when Maurice Joly writes a book intended to incite a revolt against Napoleon III. Jump forward 60 or so years, when Joly's forgotten book is used as a template to forge The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an account of a "plot" for Jews to overtake the world.
The rest of the book is the history of the Protocols and shows that once a lie of hatred and fear is released into the world it cannot be stopped despite proof of forgery and falseness.
I agree with Michael May that this is a good pre-read for The Prague Cemetery. It's also a very good read on its own.
This book starts at the beginning when Maurice Joly writes a book intended to incite a revolt against Napoleon III. Jump forward 60 or so years, when Joly's forgotten book is used as a template to forge The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an account of a "plot" for Jews to overtake the world.
The rest of the book is the history of the Protocols and shows that once a lie of hatred and fear is released into the world it cannot be stopped despite proof of forgery and falseness.
I agree with Michael May that this is a good pre-read for The Prague Cemetery. It's also a very good read on its own.
August 11, 2019
A graphic-novel history of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, that terrible anti-Semitic pamphlet dreamed up by reactionary Russians at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, The Plot attempts to uncover why such a document has been so frequently published and used, when its status as a forgery had been demonstrated again and again.
I know very little of comic books and graphic art, so the name Will Eisner does not have that magical ring for me, that it apparently has for some others, and I approached this book with no preconceived idea of the author/artist's skill. Judged solely on its merits as a story, I found The Plot to be an engaging narrative, up until the final section, in which passages from the Protocols and the earlier French work from which it was largely copied - Dialogues in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu - were presented side by side. While I can certainly understand why Eisner would choose to present these passages for the reader to compare (the Protocols seem lifted almost in their entirety), page after page of direct quotes felt like a rather obvious and cumbersome device, and interrupted the flow of the story.
That small criticism aside, I found this book to be both enlightening and disheartening, and can only applaud the author's attempt to present the truth to the world in such an accessible format. I know that I will be thinking of it for some time, wondering at the seeming indestructibility of anti-Semitism, and the ability of fiction to trump fact...
I know very little of comic books and graphic art, so the name Will Eisner does not have that magical ring for me, that it apparently has for some others, and I approached this book with no preconceived idea of the author/artist's skill. Judged solely on its merits as a story, I found The Plot to be an engaging narrative, up until the final section, in which passages from the Protocols and the earlier French work from which it was largely copied - Dialogues in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu - were presented side by side. While I can certainly understand why Eisner would choose to present these passages for the reader to compare (the Protocols seem lifted almost in their entirety), page after page of direct quotes felt like a rather obvious and cumbersome device, and interrupted the flow of the story.
That small criticism aside, I found this book to be both enlightening and disheartening, and can only applaud the author's attempt to present the truth to the world in such an accessible format. I know that I will be thinking of it for some time, wondering at the seeming indestructibility of anti-Semitism, and the ability of fiction to trump fact...
November 10, 2022
Em jeito de preparação para a leitura do livro "O Cemitério de Praga", decidi conhecer a história da criação dos Protocolos dos Sábios de Sião, através desta novela gráfica.
Estes protocolos têm sido usados, desde a sua criação, para justificar diversos movimentos anti-semitas e foram difundidos como se tratasse de um documento autêntico, alegadamente escrito por sábios judeus. Na verdade, foram escritos em finais do século XIX, por um russo, e tinham como objectivo provar a existência de uma conspiração judaica contra a civilização cristã.
Foram ao longo dos tempos adoptados e difundidos por movimentos como o Partido Nazi, o Ku Klux Klan e o fundamentalismo islâmico.
Apesar de frequentemente serem denunciados como fraudulentos, continuam a ser publicados em todo o mundo, inspirando e justificando actos racistas e xenófobos.
Will Eisner, um dos pioneiros das novelas gráficas, decidiu utilizar este meio, que numa linguagem acessível seria mais capaz de chegar a um elevado número de leitores, para denunciar mais uma vez esta fraude que continua nos dias de hoje a ser utilizada como propaganda de movimentos de ódio contra a humanidade.
Estes protocolos têm sido usados, desde a sua criação, para justificar diversos movimentos anti-semitas e foram difundidos como se tratasse de um documento autêntico, alegadamente escrito por sábios judeus. Na verdade, foram escritos em finais do século XIX, por um russo, e tinham como objectivo provar a existência de uma conspiração judaica contra a civilização cristã.
Foram ao longo dos tempos adoptados e difundidos por movimentos como o Partido Nazi, o Ku Klux Klan e o fundamentalismo islâmico.
Apesar de frequentemente serem denunciados como fraudulentos, continuam a ser publicados em todo o mundo, inspirando e justificando actos racistas e xenófobos.
Will Eisner, um dos pioneiros das novelas gráficas, decidiu utilizar este meio, que numa linguagem acessível seria mais capaz de chegar a um elevado número de leitores, para denunciar mais uma vez esta fraude que continua nos dias de hoje a ser utilizada como propaganda de movimentos de ódio contra a humanidade.
September 20, 2016
Comic and graphic novel enthusiasts watch with great interest to see who will win the “Will Eisner” award each year. It was my pleasure to meet the creator of The Spirit and the theorist/interviewer who taught via his Shop Talk (a great collection of conversations between the greats of the graphic storytelling industry). My autographed copy of Shop Talk must have been inked while the late Will Eisner was on the verge of finishing The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The Plot is one of those serious graphic novels by Eisner, much like his Contract with God about which I shared a couple of years ago.
Eisner seems to have had trouble finishing this graphic presentation of the poorly-known history of this Anti-Semitic fraud for more than one reason. First, as you can imagine, it wasn’t a very commercial effort. It sure doesn’t fit the average comic book reader. After all, how many graphic novels have an introduction by the brilliant Italian critic/novelist, Umberto Eco? Second, it was difficult to actually finish the novel because every time it looked like the false assertions that this manifesto was written by the Jews was proven once and for all, it would arise again. One scene has Eisner himself telling a publisher that he is working on this graphic novel. The publisher replies, “Haw! Good luck! You’re dealing with an old vampire that will not die in spite of all the absolute proof of fraudulence.” (p. 113). Thinking it was over when Senators Dodd and Keating released a U.S. Senate Judiciary (subcommittee) Committee report declaring the protocols to be fake (p. 111) or when a Russian court declared it a forgery in 1993 (p. 113), much less the 1999 expose’ in L’Express proving that Mathieu Golovinski was the forger of the document as a propaganda tool for prodding the tsar into action against an alleged Jewish revolution, there was an edition printed in Louisiana and one in Lebanon in 2000, an edition distributed on campus in San Diego in 2001, and a television serial based on the book broadcast on Arab television. In November of 2001, Egyptian newsweekly “Roz-Al-Youssuf” praised the series for revealing the truth about Zionism. As of 2004, Eisner was still seeing editions of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion published and sold in bookstores around the world.
Another reason The Plot may not have found its niche among regular comic readers is that about one-fourth of the volume has side-by-side comparisons (in text boxes taking up almost 2/3 of each page) between Maurice Joly’s The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu of 1864 and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion circa 1902. The text is remarkably similar and the comic characters on each page note the obvious similarity. Joly wrote his book to compare Napoleon III with the counselor to the Borgias while Govolinski plagiarized the book to use Machiavelli’s phraseology to sound like a Jewish plan for action. For example, Joly had Machiavelli say, “The evil instinct in man is more powerful than the good. Man leans more toward the evil than the good; fear and power have more control over him than reason…” while Govolinski places the following words in the leaders of the World Congress of Jews: “It must be noted that men with bad instincts are more in number than the good, and therefore the best results in governing them are attained by violence and terrorizations, and not by academic discussions.” Joly has Machiavelli say, “All men seek power, and there is none who would not be an oppressor if he could.” Govolinski has the Protocols say, “Every man aims at power, everyone would like to become a dictator if only he could, …” (p. 73). The evidence is just as glaring on pages 74-89. It should be absolutely clear-cut to any thinking individual.
For me, I am glad I read this volume because I always associated The Protocols of the Elders of Zion with Hitler’s anti-Semitic crusade. It was amazing to see how this fraudulent piece of vicious rhetoric plagiarized from an earlier work was used in Russia, Germany, England (with no greater representative than Winston Churchill), the U.S. (under the auspices of Henry Ford who later apologized), Lebanon, and the current Arab states. Frankly, I wish everyone tempted to place evil intent in the minds of an entire race could be required to read this and put phrase against phrase against phrase. The Plot should be a classic. Unfortunately, it is usually gathering dust on library shelves if one can find it.
Eisner seems to have had trouble finishing this graphic presentation of the poorly-known history of this Anti-Semitic fraud for more than one reason. First, as you can imagine, it wasn’t a very commercial effort. It sure doesn’t fit the average comic book reader. After all, how many graphic novels have an introduction by the brilliant Italian critic/novelist, Umberto Eco? Second, it was difficult to actually finish the novel because every time it looked like the false assertions that this manifesto was written by the Jews was proven once and for all, it would arise again. One scene has Eisner himself telling a publisher that he is working on this graphic novel. The publisher replies, “Haw! Good luck! You’re dealing with an old vampire that will not die in spite of all the absolute proof of fraudulence.” (p. 113). Thinking it was over when Senators Dodd and Keating released a U.S. Senate Judiciary (subcommittee) Committee report declaring the protocols to be fake (p. 111) or when a Russian court declared it a forgery in 1993 (p. 113), much less the 1999 expose’ in L’Express proving that Mathieu Golovinski was the forger of the document as a propaganda tool for prodding the tsar into action against an alleged Jewish revolution, there was an edition printed in Louisiana and one in Lebanon in 2000, an edition distributed on campus in San Diego in 2001, and a television serial based on the book broadcast on Arab television. In November of 2001, Egyptian newsweekly “Roz-Al-Youssuf” praised the series for revealing the truth about Zionism. As of 2004, Eisner was still seeing editions of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion published and sold in bookstores around the world.
Another reason The Plot may not have found its niche among regular comic readers is that about one-fourth of the volume has side-by-side comparisons (in text boxes taking up almost 2/3 of each page) between Maurice Joly’s The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu of 1864 and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion circa 1902. The text is remarkably similar and the comic characters on each page note the obvious similarity. Joly wrote his book to compare Napoleon III with the counselor to the Borgias while Govolinski plagiarized the book to use Machiavelli’s phraseology to sound like a Jewish plan for action. For example, Joly had Machiavelli say, “The evil instinct in man is more powerful than the good. Man leans more toward the evil than the good; fear and power have more control over him than reason…” while Govolinski places the following words in the leaders of the World Congress of Jews: “It must be noted that men with bad instincts are more in number than the good, and therefore the best results in governing them are attained by violence and terrorizations, and not by academic discussions.” Joly has Machiavelli say, “All men seek power, and there is none who would not be an oppressor if he could.” Govolinski has the Protocols say, “Every man aims at power, everyone would like to become a dictator if only he could, …” (p. 73). The evidence is just as glaring on pages 74-89. It should be absolutely clear-cut to any thinking individual.
For me, I am glad I read this volume because I always associated The Protocols of the Elders of Zion with Hitler’s anti-Semitic crusade. It was amazing to see how this fraudulent piece of vicious rhetoric plagiarized from an earlier work was used in Russia, Germany, England (with no greater representative than Winston Churchill), the U.S. (under the auspices of Henry Ford who later apologized), Lebanon, and the current Arab states. Frankly, I wish everyone tempted to place evil intent in the minds of an entire race could be required to read this and put phrase against phrase against phrase. The Plot should be a classic. Unfortunately, it is usually gathering dust on library shelves if one can find it.
April 15, 2010
There are two ways to look at The Plot: the first is as Eisner's intended summary of the scholarly research regarding the history and origins of the forgery that is the Protocols. In this case it works, but only sort of. It's a more than a bit shallow — expected, perhaps, given the medium and the fact that a surprising chunk of the work is taken up showing how closely the text of the Protocols was lifted from an earlier French work attacking Louis-Napoléon — concentrating on who created it, rather than the circumstances surrounding its creation. It's the sort of thing that anyone with even the most basic knowledge of the forgery's origins will already know, but passable as an introduction for neophytes to the history.
If you already know all these facts, then the second way of looking at it takes priority: as a narrative & graphic work. Since I already knew all the history, this was how I had to primarily evaluate it, and frankly, I can't say it worked for me in this respect. For the most part the book favours a perhaps overly didactic tone, which leaves the people and events that appear on stage as little more than cardboard cut-outs, and it often inserts reproductions of publications or lengthy quotes, which often leaves little room for any art. From a narrative standpoint, I'd say the only parts that work are when Eisner himself steps in as a character and the book moves to a more personal level.
Overall, I can't say I enjoyed it. Sure, it makes a quick summary of the facts behind the forgery, but I never found the scholarly works to be that difficult of reading. All of which leaves it to stand, or rather fall, on its merits as a narrative work.
If you already know all these facts, then the second way of looking at it takes priority: as a narrative & graphic work. Since I already knew all the history, this was how I had to primarily evaluate it, and frankly, I can't say it worked for me in this respect. For the most part the book favours a perhaps overly didactic tone, which leaves the people and events that appear on stage as little more than cardboard cut-outs, and it often inserts reproductions of publications or lengthy quotes, which often leaves little room for any art. From a narrative standpoint, I'd say the only parts that work are when Eisner himself steps in as a character and the book moves to a more personal level.
Overall, I can't say I enjoyed it. Sure, it makes a quick summary of the facts behind the forgery, but I never found the scholarly works to be that difficult of reading. All of which leaves it to stand, or rather fall, on its merits as a narrative work.
December 14, 2017
This is the beating of a LONG dead horse.
The problem here is that nobody who gave any credence to the validity of the plot itself would ever pick this book up. He was a very smart man yet ignored the fact that invalidating a specific reason for hate doesn't matter to those with long term blind hate. They go from reason to reason without consideration and SURELY don't spend time to see how wrong they are. It is him proving something that has been proved countless times year after year in mediums that are read by masses in a medium that is read by comparatively few. I'm a HUGE fan of him and respect him for it none-the-less. After all, he made and continued improving the graphic novel itself into poignant and credible literature!
I wanted to put it down many times because of how meticulously he presents it. That's not to say I didn't appreciate the research he put in and the specific history I learned BUT I'd much rather spend that time on specific history that wasn't so obscure in the grand scheme. I also must add that I'm TREMENDOUSLY glad that he wrote it. He had so much to say about the subject and got it done just before death; it must have been so rewarding to complete!
I've read nearly all he has published (and own the other 4 that will be read within a year) and JEWISH JUSTICE is either the subject, close to center, or in varying degrees of the periphery of nearly all of his works. I am a gentile that lives in a nearly strictly orthodox neighborhood who seeks accessible (to understand and not textbook heavy) literature about Judiasm. So much about the strict adherents fascinates me!
The problem here is that nobody who gave any credence to the validity of the plot itself would ever pick this book up. He was a very smart man yet ignored the fact that invalidating a specific reason for hate doesn't matter to those with long term blind hate. They go from reason to reason without consideration and SURELY don't spend time to see how wrong they are. It is him proving something that has been proved countless times year after year in mediums that are read by masses in a medium that is read by comparatively few. I'm a HUGE fan of him and respect him for it none-the-less. After all, he made and continued improving the graphic novel itself into poignant and credible literature!
I wanted to put it down many times because of how meticulously he presents it. That's not to say I didn't appreciate the research he put in and the specific history I learned BUT I'd much rather spend that time on specific history that wasn't so obscure in the grand scheme. I also must add that I'm TREMENDOUSLY glad that he wrote it. He had so much to say about the subject and got it done just before death; it must have been so rewarding to complete!
I've read nearly all he has published (and own the other 4 that will be read within a year) and JEWISH JUSTICE is either the subject, close to center, or in varying degrees of the periphery of nearly all of his works. I am a gentile that lives in a nearly strictly orthodox neighborhood who seeks accessible (to understand and not textbook heavy) literature about Judiasm. So much about the strict adherents fascinates me!
June 3, 2024
It’s difficult to reconcile the farcical way this story seems to play out (I could almost hear Benny Hill or the Curb Your Enthusiasm outro theme every time a person declares that the Protocols were finally proved a fraud) with the bloodshed it inspired. The comic probably benefitted from Eisner’s easy framing of the history and simplified dialogue to extend its potential reach, but it would have been pretty tight if they jammed Sartre’s Antisemitism essay into the back, or maybe just some prose at the end which was a touch more scholarly or overarching (aside from the all too brief Eco introduction). Anyway, it’s probably worth a read just to reinforce how disgusting the dog whistle/accusation of cultural Marxism really is - or to put it another way, it just adds more force to the erroneous Scooby Doo villain mask tear-off moment insipid reactionaries attempt to pull off when they reveal progressive/liberal developments as plots by those filthy filthy Jews to take away the liberty of red-blooded American boys.... sorry they'd never be that honest, “globalists” are responsible. What a crock of shit.
April 28, 2009
For his last book, comics icon Will Eisner chose to do a non-fiction investigative report about a near-mythical, centuries-old forged document (The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,/) that was designed to implicate the Jews in all manner of nefarious schemes to control the world. The story is so fantastic it sounds like fiction, but the ripples the document set in motion in Russia and Germany have had devastating long-term effects, and continue to spread poison throughout the world.
Eisner builds a clear, thoughtful, coherent case. There are a few of the perpetrators of the fraud that are depicted as raving lunatics, but then again, they might have actually been that way. This is a very unusual political book from a man who obviously cared deeply about the subject, yet there's no sense that it was done out of some attempt to be "taken seriously" or to draw attention to himself. I wish that more writers can maintain this kind of grit and feistiness when they are in their eighties.
Eisner builds a clear, thoughtful, coherent case. There are a few of the perpetrators of the fraud that are depicted as raving lunatics, but then again, they might have actually been that way. This is a very unusual political book from a man who obviously cared deeply about the subject, yet there's no sense that it was done out of some attempt to be "taken seriously" or to draw attention to himself. I wish that more writers can maintain this kind of grit and feistiness when they are in their eighties.
September 20, 2007
I'm continually reading comics by illustrators who have won the Eisner award, I thought it was about time I read something by Will Eisner. Eisner spent roughly 20 years (off an on) working on this graphic novel. His goal was to explain the creation of The Protocols to a general public. I think this was a success. The Plot is a like a cliffs notes version of the story. Generally, I thought the dialog was overly simplified, making it a little silly. A Jr. High student could read this with no problems.
What was completely amazing about this book was the illustrations. Eisner doesn't delineate panels with frames, instead a shadow becomes the separation between panels—or a building, or a coat. This is very sophisticated and guides the reader through the pages with a fluidity that you don't usually find in comics. If the writing matched the illustrations in sophistication this book would be hands down 5 stars.
What was completely amazing about this book was the illustrations. Eisner doesn't delineate panels with frames, instead a shadow becomes the separation between panels—or a building, or a coat. This is very sophisticated and guides the reader through the pages with a fluidity that you don't usually find in comics. If the writing matched the illustrations in sophistication this book would be hands down 5 stars.
January 29, 2013
without much ado, I would recommend this to anybody with at least a pinch of critical thinking in them... while I may not be an expert in graphic novel, I thoroughly appreciated this one... not only cos it shows the genesis of Protocols or mechanisms by which it is still spread... but also cos it reveals, for those who think into more depth in this, how thin a line can be between a real document and a document acting as a real one - people might still believe it, cos it "makes sense" or "it is possible" to them
not too different from how all those myths about Jews trying to control or take over the world are being made and spread, right? Rockefellers *cough cough*... while such things are not as overt as Protocols might be, they are equally dangerous
because, as Eisner points out, people need enemies when they cant get their sh*t together and get things done, and it is easier to blame it all on someone or something
NEVER AGAIN, I say
not too different from how all those myths about Jews trying to control or take over the world are being made and spread, right? Rockefellers *cough cough*... while such things are not as overt as Protocols might be, they are equally dangerous
because, as Eisner points out, people need enemies when they cant get their sh*t together and get things done, and it is easier to blame it all on someone or something
NEVER AGAIN, I say
Read
November 1, 2018کل ۱۲۸ صفحه کتاب تکرار یک گزاره و یک سوال بود:
۱- کتاب پروتکلهای یهود یک کتاب ساخته و پرداخته شده توسط برخی گروههای روسیه و این مطلب بارها و بارها در دادگاهها و.. اثبات شده.
۲- چرا با این که این مطلب بارها و بارها اثبات شده این کتاب هنوز منتشر میشه و طرفدار داره؟
راجه به گزاره نظر خاصی ندارم. کلی اسناد و مدارک آورده توش. جواب خود آیزنر به سوال اینه که یه عده برای رسیدن به منافع سیاسیشون لازم دارن که مردم را از یه گروه خاص بترسونن و کی بهتر از یهودیا. و البته یه جوری این جواب سادهانگارانه رو میده که معلومه خودش هم قانع نشده.
نقطه ضعف بزرگش این بود که یه جاهایی دقیقا انگار کتاب تاریخی پر سندی رو داشتی میخوندی که یه نفر گوشه برگههاش یه نقاشی متحرک کشیده. طبیعتا مهمترین نقطه قوت این کتاب طراحیهای خوب آیزنر بود و دیدن دوباره سبک خاصش تو کمیک کشیدن. آها این هم جالبه که این دفعه (با توجه به سابقهش) خیلی تقوا به خرج داده بود و هیچ نکته منشوری نداشت تو طراحیاش :)
۱- کتاب پروتکلهای یهود یک کتاب ساخته و پرداخته شده توسط برخی گروههای روسیه و این مطلب بارها و بارها در دادگاهها و.. اثبات شده.
۲- چرا با این که این مطلب بارها و بارها اثبات شده این کتاب هنوز منتشر میشه و طرفدار داره؟
راجه به گزاره نظر خاصی ندارم. کلی اسناد و مدارک آورده توش. جواب خود آیزنر به سوال اینه که یه عده برای رسیدن به منافع سیاسیشون لازم دارن که مردم را از یه گروه خاص بترسونن و کی بهتر از یهودیا. و البته یه جوری این جواب سادهانگارانه رو میده که معلومه خودش هم قانع نشده.
نقطه ضعف بزرگش این بود که یه جاهایی دقیقا انگار کتاب تاریخی پر سندی رو داشتی میخوندی که یه نفر گوشه برگههاش یه نقاشی متحرک کشیده. طبیعتا مهمترین نقطه قوت این کتاب طراحیهای خوب آیزنر بود و دیدن دوباره سبک خاصش تو کمیک کشیدن. آها این هم جالبه که این دفعه (با توجه به سابقهش) خیلی تقوا به خرج داده بود و هیچ نکته منشوری نداشت تو طراحیاش :)
March 13, 2013
This last graphic volume from the influential pen of Will Eisner offers a powerful introduction to the history of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. A primer in the Protocols' origins and ongoing cultural significance enhances understanding of antisemitism, study of the Holocaust, and textual roots of intolerance more generally. Other reviews have shared plenty of detail for readers on goodreads, so let me just note that I found it edifying, engaging, and an important use of the author/artist's skills.
December 14, 2011
Tenho um amigo muito especial, mas dono de uma ingenuidade extrema. Ele parece uma pessoa fácil de impressionar e que normalmente acredita em coisas meio incomuns, mesmo quando são enunciadas de formas pouco convincentes. Ele raramente questiona a fonte de uma informação por mais incoerente que ela seja. Há alguns anos atrás, veio com um disquete de computador que, segundo disseram a ele, continha um documento de texto com uma articulação judaica para a conquista do mundo. Uau!!! De fato, quando abri o arquivo, tratava-se de uma cópia eletrônica dos Protocolos dos Sábios de Sião.
Os Protocolos são uma conspiração atribuída a sábios judeus que contam os detalhes de um plano para dominar o mundo. Na verdade, esse documento é uma falácia forjada pelo serviço secreto russo, em 1898, para convencer o tzar Nicolau II de que o movimento revolucionário que ameaçava a estabilidade política era parte de um plano judaico. A farsa foi encomendada a um inescrupuloso e ganancioso exilado russo que vivia na França, Mathieu Golovinski, que plagiou um livro intitulado “O Diálogo no Inferno entre Maquiavel e Montesquieu”, publicado em 1864. Golovinski fez uma verdadeira colagem dos textos, adaptando e acrescentando apenas alguns pontos para que servissem ao nefasto propósito de seus clientes. Eis a verdadeira origem dos Protocolos dos Sábios de Sião.
Essa é uma triste história contada por Will Eisner (1917-2005) no seu último álbum: “O Complô - A História Secreta dos Protocolos dos Sábios de Sião” – publicado aqui no Brasil pela Cia. das Letras. O autor dedicou anos em pesquisas a fim de levantar todos os dados do caso e seus desdobramentos. Ao acompanhar seu relato, apresentado magistralmente na linguagem dos quadrinhos, temos uma clara idéia dos danos que esse manuscrito exerceu, colaborando para fomentar ainda mais o anti-semitismo pelo mundo afora. Através da obra de Will Eisner ficamos sabendo que, de Henry Ford, que mais tarde se retratou quando se convenceu da farsa, a Hitler, os Protocolos vêm sendo utilizados para “alertar” o mundo dessa suposta ameaça judaica. Na Europa, por exemplo, nas décadas de 1920 e 1930 os Protocolos eram quase tão populares quanto a Bíblia. Segundo o livro de Eisner, não há quase ou nenhum movimento de intolerância aos judeus que não tenha sido influenciado pelo panfleto. Ainda hoje, esses livros são publicados entre árabes, europeus e asiáticos, não obstante as provas trazidas a lume em 2002, publicadas pelo jornal parisiense Le Figaro, que atestam definitivamente a falsificação.
O mais impressionante é que, mesmo diante da exposição dessa fraude, inúmeras pessoas desinformadas aceitam essa idéia sem a mínima noção do que estão fazendo. Colaboram para a sobrevivência daquilo gerou os Protocolos: o ódio e a intolerância por um povo. Isso é racismo. Umberto Eco, que escreveu a introdução do álbum de Eisner, comenta: “Como se pode explicar a resistência contra todas as provas e o perverso apelo que esse livro continua a exercer?”. Ele conclui não muito otimista: “Acredito que – apesar de corajoso, e não cômico, mas trágico livro de Will Eisner- essa história está longe de terminar. Ainda assim, é uma história que merece ser contada, porque devemos combater a Grande Mentira e o ódio que ela cria”.
Os Protocolos são uma conspiração atribuída a sábios judeus que contam os detalhes de um plano para dominar o mundo. Na verdade, esse documento é uma falácia forjada pelo serviço secreto russo, em 1898, para convencer o tzar Nicolau II de que o movimento revolucionário que ameaçava a estabilidade política era parte de um plano judaico. A farsa foi encomendada a um inescrupuloso e ganancioso exilado russo que vivia na França, Mathieu Golovinski, que plagiou um livro intitulado “O Diálogo no Inferno entre Maquiavel e Montesquieu”, publicado em 1864. Golovinski fez uma verdadeira colagem dos textos, adaptando e acrescentando apenas alguns pontos para que servissem ao nefasto propósito de seus clientes. Eis a verdadeira origem dos Protocolos dos Sábios de Sião.
Essa é uma triste história contada por Will Eisner (1917-2005) no seu último álbum: “O Complô - A História Secreta dos Protocolos dos Sábios de Sião” – publicado aqui no Brasil pela Cia. das Letras. O autor dedicou anos em pesquisas a fim de levantar todos os dados do caso e seus desdobramentos. Ao acompanhar seu relato, apresentado magistralmente na linguagem dos quadrinhos, temos uma clara idéia dos danos que esse manuscrito exerceu, colaborando para fomentar ainda mais o anti-semitismo pelo mundo afora. Através da obra de Will Eisner ficamos sabendo que, de Henry Ford, que mais tarde se retratou quando se convenceu da farsa, a Hitler, os Protocolos vêm sendo utilizados para “alertar” o mundo dessa suposta ameaça judaica. Na Europa, por exemplo, nas décadas de 1920 e 1930 os Protocolos eram quase tão populares quanto a Bíblia. Segundo o livro de Eisner, não há quase ou nenhum movimento de intolerância aos judeus que não tenha sido influenciado pelo panfleto. Ainda hoje, esses livros são publicados entre árabes, europeus e asiáticos, não obstante as provas trazidas a lume em 2002, publicadas pelo jornal parisiense Le Figaro, que atestam definitivamente a falsificação.
O mais impressionante é que, mesmo diante da exposição dessa fraude, inúmeras pessoas desinformadas aceitam essa idéia sem a mínima noção do que estão fazendo. Colaboram para a sobrevivência daquilo gerou os Protocolos: o ódio e a intolerância por um povo. Isso é racismo. Umberto Eco, que escreveu a introdução do álbum de Eisner, comenta: “Como se pode explicar a resistência contra todas as provas e o perverso apelo que esse livro continua a exercer?”. Ele conclui não muito otimista: “Acredito que – apesar de corajoso, e não cômico, mas trágico livro de Will Eisner- essa história está longe de terminar. Ainda assim, é uma história que merece ser contada, porque devemos combater a Grande Mentira e o ódio que ela cria”.
October 23, 2015
Le pape de la BD outre atlantique a décidé de mettre son art au service de la bonne cause. Son but est de dénoncer l'odieux complot visant à attiser la haine envers le peuple Juif. Ce complot est basé sur la rédaction et la publication d'un document antisémite: Les Protocoles des Sages de Sion. Will Eisner nous raconte l'histoire de la création de ce document et s'interroge sur la façon dont ce pamphlet, si grossièrement fabriqué, a pu trouver et trouve encore aujourd'hui une audience auprès des plus crédules. C'est aussi une réflexion sur le terrible pouvoir des mots et de la propagande ravivé aujourd'hui par l'avènement d'Internet. Il est étonnant de voir que, malgré le fait que la supercherie ait été découverte et révélée par un journal de référence comme le Times dès les années 20, ce document ait été utilisé si souvent comme un terreau alimentant les haines raciales. La propagande anti juive d'Hitler y a plongé ces racines et il est encore utilisé et cité aujourd'hui comme référence par certains extrémistes.
Plutôt que de rédiger un essai complexe n'ayant un impact que sur une infime partie de la population, Will Eisner a préféré utiliser son arme de prédilection : la Bande dessinée. Contrairement à d'autres médias plus élitistes, celle-ci à l'immense avantage d'être accessible au plus grand nombre. Ce n'est pas une BD classique mais un roman graphique très bien documenté qui contient même des articles de journaux d'époque dont l'un est signé de la main d'un jeune journaliste devenu célèbre depuis : Winston Churchill. Outre l'apport culturel et la mission de cette oeuvre, il faut savoir que, parce qu'elle traverse le temps, les personnages ne sont jamais les mêmes, seul les protocoles survivent aux années. Cet état de fait rend la lecture plus difficile car, sans la persistance des personnages, elle s'apparente plus à un document qu'à une véritable histoire. Will Eisner achève ainsi, car malheureusement il nous a quitté en 2005, ce qui aura été l'un des combats majeurs de son existence. Enfin j'ai appris récemment, et un peu tard, qu'une exposition consacrée à l'apport des auteurs juifs à la bande dessinée avait été organisée. Cette exposition nommée De Superman au Chat du Rabbin met en lumière l'influence de ces auteurs depuis les origines des comics jusqu'au récent phénomène Joan Sfar en passant bien sur par l'incontournable Will Eisner. http://www.aubonroman.com/2008/02/le-...
Plutôt que de rédiger un essai complexe n'ayant un impact que sur une infime partie de la population, Will Eisner a préféré utiliser son arme de prédilection : la Bande dessinée. Contrairement à d'autres médias plus élitistes, celle-ci à l'immense avantage d'être accessible au plus grand nombre. Ce n'est pas une BD classique mais un roman graphique très bien documenté qui contient même des articles de journaux d'époque dont l'un est signé de la main d'un jeune journaliste devenu célèbre depuis : Winston Churchill. Outre l'apport culturel et la mission de cette oeuvre, il faut savoir que, parce qu'elle traverse le temps, les personnages ne sont jamais les mêmes, seul les protocoles survivent aux années. Cet état de fait rend la lecture plus difficile car, sans la persistance des personnages, elle s'apparente plus à un document qu'à une véritable histoire. Will Eisner achève ainsi, car malheureusement il nous a quitté en 2005, ce qui aura été l'un des combats majeurs de son existence. Enfin j'ai appris récemment, et un peu tard, qu'une exposition consacrée à l'apport des auteurs juifs à la bande dessinée avait été organisée. Cette exposition nommée De Superman au Chat du Rabbin met en lumière l'influence de ces auteurs depuis les origines des comics jusqu'au récent phénomène Joan Sfar en passant bien sur par l'incontournable Will Eisner. http://www.aubonroman.com/2008/02/le-...
November 13, 2016
Will Eisner's "The Plot..." is the story of the creation and fate of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", a virulent and chronic piece of anti-Semitic propaganda issues towards the end of the 19th century. The book is fairly straightforward, charting first the origin of the book that the Protocols was one long paraphrase of and then the life of Mathieu Golovinski, the forger who created the Protocols. In covers the history of the Protocols itself, both its use as a tool of anti-Semitic propaganda and the progress of its debunking.
For the most part, the narrative is well told, with the story of Golovinsky being especially engaging. However, The Plot bogs down in heavy-handedness and didaticism on a couple of occasions. First, there is the part set in Istanbul in 1921 where an English reporter is passed on documents that first reveal the Protocols to be a fraud. This includes 17 pages (out of 123 pages of actual story) that is simply a comparison of the test of the Protocols with the text of the work which it paraphrases. Outside of being more than is needed to establish the point, in-depth textual comparison doesn't really fit in a graphic format. There is also a section where the Protocols are debunked at various points in time and end with someone blithely asserting that they are deprived of their power once and for all. Since we know they haven't been, the repetition comes across as a cheap, dramatic device.
The visual style is quite good though, as might be expected by the father of the modern graphic novel. For instance, there's a scene in which Golovinsky, out of favor, is being pursued by the police and the four drawings are done in one seamless panel. This is a regular device of his and preserves a smooth narrative flow. The problem is that so much of the book is exposition (telling rather than showing) that the graphics seem superfluous.
Since the Protocols is still used by anti-Semites, this is a useful work but it's marred by a measure of heavy-handedness.
For the most part, the narrative is well told, with the story of Golovinsky being especially engaging. However, The Plot bogs down in heavy-handedness and didaticism on a couple of occasions. First, there is the part set in Istanbul in 1921 where an English reporter is passed on documents that first reveal the Protocols to be a fraud. This includes 17 pages (out of 123 pages of actual story) that is simply a comparison of the test of the Protocols with the text of the work which it paraphrases. Outside of being more than is needed to establish the point, in-depth textual comparison doesn't really fit in a graphic format. There is also a section where the Protocols are debunked at various points in time and end with someone blithely asserting that they are deprived of their power once and for all. Since we know they haven't been, the repetition comes across as a cheap, dramatic device.
The visual style is quite good though, as might be expected by the father of the modern graphic novel. For instance, there's a scene in which Golovinsky, out of favor, is being pursued by the police and the four drawings are done in one seamless panel. This is a regular device of his and preserves a smooth narrative flow. The problem is that so much of the book is exposition (telling rather than showing) that the graphics seem superfluous.
Since the Protocols is still used by anti-Semites, this is a useful work but it's marred by a measure of heavy-handedness.
June 17, 2010
This is a pretty straightforward account of the real story behind the propaganda pamphlet "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." There are a couple of frames where Eisner interjects himself and his point of view into the narrative, and those moments are the strongest. It is easy to see why he embarked on this labor of love, which I believe was the last thing he worked on. He is clearly afraid that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. The idea of educating the masses through a comic is also a smart idea (and one itself used by countless propagandists). It's too bad that it ends up a little on the dry side. His research is impeccable, and as always he conveys a lot through is drawings. Unfortunately, the numerous pages of side by side prose comparison and the dizzying march through history would likely turn off the average comic reader. An ambitious and worthy project, nonetheless.
October 19, 2016
"Then why? Why? When everyone knows that the Protocols is a fake... why are they still publishing it?"
"Because it is a weapon of mass deception."
In his final graphic novel, Eisner makes the history of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (a plagiarized, fraudulent, antisemitic text used by several countries to justify discrimination against the Jewish people) accessible to the everyday man. It's an excellent history of a slippery text that some still believe is credible. If you know someone like that, this would be a great resource to point them towards.
"Because it is a weapon of mass deception."
In his final graphic novel, Eisner makes the history of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (a plagiarized, fraudulent, antisemitic text used by several countries to justify discrimination against the Jewish people) accessible to the everyday man. It's an excellent history of a slippery text that some still believe is credible. If you know someone like that, this would be a great resource to point them towards.
December 28, 2010
This should have been a better book, but instead it was very repetitive. The book does a great job of showing how "The Protocols" were originally written by Maurice Joly in France as a rant against Napoleon III, and later plagiarized (re-purposed) by the Russian Secret Police as a document against the communists. This could of been a far shorter book. Much of the book is given over to complaining about why people still read it and believe it to be true. Convincing those people of it's falsehood is not likely to happen soon. Maybe over time this hatred will go away.
July 2, 2011
Não sendo uma das obras mais significativas de Eisner, destaca-se pela forma metódica com o autor desmonta os mitos dos protocolos de sião, meme recorrente que infesta a cultura popular, procurando as suas raízes nas guerras de poder da rússia czarista do início do século XX. De certa forma, Eisner certifica aqui a credulidade humana, capaz de acreditar nas piores falsidades mesmo com as mais fortes evidências do contrário.
April 13, 2021
"Em quase todos os países há gente tentando tomar o poder político. Qual é o jeito mais fácil? Você escolhe um grupo vulnerável que possa parecer uma ameaça! O truque é descobrir um documento que prove a culpa deles. Mas supondo que esse documento seja falso? Não importa. De qualquer forma, ele será aceito. Por quê? Porque as pessoas têm de justificar uma conduta que pode envergonhá-las mais tarde. E, é claro, suas reações a mudanças sociais".
July 28, 2009
As anyone who lived under the regime of George W. Bush knows, lies sometimes get people killed. The lie exposed in this fictionalized treatment of a non-fiction subject has been used to justify the killing of millions. It is an important story, and it is brilliantly told as a graphic novel by the great Will Eisner. This is just one of two graphic novels that I think rates 5 stars. Read it.
February 7, 2019
If this can convince one person to stop believing in the lie of "The Protocols" it will have been worth it. But I doubt it will. Logic just doesn't work against bigotry.
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