1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910452357703321

Autore

Goldberg Robert Alan <1949->

Titolo

Enemies within [[electronic resource] ] : the culture of conspiracy in modern America / / Robert A. Goldberg

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Haven, : Yale University, c2001

ISBN

1-281-73106-4

9786611731069

0-300-13294-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (1 online resource (xiv, 354 p.) ) : ill., facsims

Disciplina

973

Soggetti

Conspiracies - United States - History

Electronic books.

United States Social conditions

United States Politics and government

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Preface -- Chapter 1. An American Tradition -- Chapter 2. The Master Conspiracy -- Chapter 3. The Rise of the Antichrist -- Chapter 4. The View from the Grassy Knoll -- Chapter 5. Jewish Devils and the War on Black America -- Chapter 6. The Roswell Incident -- Chapter 7. Mainstreaming Conspiracism -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

There is a hunger for conspiracy news in America. Hundreds of Internet websites, magazines, newsletters, even entire publishing houses, disseminate information on invisible enemies and their secret activities, subversions, and coverups. Those who suspect conspiracies behind events in the news-the crash of TWA Flight 800, the death of Marilyn Monroe-join generations of Americans, from the colonial period to the present day, who have entertained visions of vast plots. In this enthralling book Robert Goldberg focuses on five major conspiracy theories of the past half-century, examining how they became widely popular in the United States and why they have remained so. In the post-World War II decades conspiracy theories have become more numerous, more commonly believed, and more deeply embedded in



our culture, Goldberg contends. He investigates conspiracy theories regarding the Roswell UFO incident, the Communist threat, the rise of the Antichrist, the assassination of President John Kennedy, and the Jewish plot against black America, in each case taking historical, social, and political environments into account. Conspiracy theories are not merely the products of a lunatic fringe, the author shows. Rather, paranoid rhetoric and thinking are disturbingly central in America today. With media validation and dissemination of conspiracy ideas, and federal government behavior that damages public confidence and faith, the ground is fertile for conspiracy thinking.