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Under the Eye of Power: How Fear of Secret Societies Shapes American Democracy
Maybe someday
26
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
35/100Critics
17/100Scholars
Author:
Colin Dickey
Publisher:
Viking
Date:
July 11, 2023
The United States was born in paranoia. From the American Revolution (thought by some to be a conspiracy organized by the French) to the Salem witch trials to the Satanic Panic, the Illuminati, and QAnon, one of the most enduring narratives that defines the United States is simply this: secret groups are conspiring to pervert the will of the people and the rule of law. We'd like to assume these panics exist only at the fringes of society, or are unique features of the internet age. But history tells us, in fact, that they are woven into the fabric of American democracy.
What The Reviewers Say
Dickey, a meticulous researcher, unearths fresh detail about our best-known ruptures with reality.
Timely.
Dickey vividly retells the histories of many of these conspiratorial fables and offers complex, well-informed analyses.
A colorful history.
