History Decoded

The Ten Greatest Conspiracies of All Time

By: Keith Ferrell, Brad Meltzer

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Adapted from Decoded, Meltzer's hit show on the History network, History Decoded explores many fascinating and unexplained questions.

Is Fort Knox empty? Why was Hitler so intent on capturing the Roman "Spear of Destiny"? What's the government hiding in Area 51? Where did the Confederacy's $19 million in gold and silver go at the end of the Civil War? And did Lee Harvey Oswald really act alone?

Meltzer sifts through the evidence; weighs competing theories; separates what we know to be true with what's still - and perhaps forever - unproven; and in the end, decodes the mysteries, arriving at the most likely solution. Along the way we meet Freemasons, Rosicrucians, Nazi propagandists, and the real DB Cooper.

©2013 Original material by A&E Television Networks, LLC. Recorded by arrangement with Workman Publishing Company, Inc. (P)2013 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"Sure to keep readers enthralled and conspiracy theorists encouraged to continue to dig for the truth." ( Publishers Weekly)

Who did it? It wasn't me.

Narrative was good. very interesting topics. we will probably never know what really happened. thanks

Hold on!

As a avid fan of the History Channel series, I so wanted the book to take me on the same riveting ride. It did not disappoint.

A rehash of Decoded tv scripts, enjoyable anyway

As a fan of Meltzer's now canceled television show Decoded I was hoping for somthing new here; perhaps some things that didn't make it onto TV before the ax fell. Unfortunatly, the whole book was culled from the show.
The stories here are all pretty good however and run about 30 minutes each which will make your drive to the grocery store a lot less boring.
And honestly, I'll probably buy volume two of there ever is one.

What really happened?

Leaving a sense of wonder, this gripping outline of the greatest unknown points in history takes one down a rabbit hole is suspense. Each fact presented adds to these tales a feeling of confusion in the best possible way

What if I told you...

There are always 3 parts to every story, yours, theirs and then the truth. This audiobook was great and I loved every second of it. It explores some of America's greatest conspiracy theories and best of all it presents the facts and myths in such a way the author is not trying to sway your opinion but just getting his findings to the lime light. It will really get you thinking and that is the whole point of a title like this. Are some of the theories wacky, sure depending on who you are and your beliefs but I would be hard pressed to find someone that listened to this and it did not get your mind going. It is presented in a countdown format and I liked that a lot, I might have changed the order up a little bit and sure, some theories were more exciting than others but I was very into this book the whole way through. The performance is done brilliantly and is done by one of the best in the business. This was not my first title done by this narrator and he does not disappoint. It brings a whole new meaning to bringing the words to life. Just that subtle pause or voice change with one word made all the difference and he seemed to know just when to use them. The performance just added to the presentation of the conspiracy, whether you believe it as fact or fiction I admired the way it was read. Overall, such an enjoyable listening experience for a conspiracy lover like myself, plus the author is right when he says... sometimes the scariest version of the story is the truth.

368 minutes I could have spent better

I didn't hate it. And parts were quite interesting, especially the DB Cooper story. But most of the "decoding" ends up with Scott Brick eventually telling you that the authors have no clue what the truth is. Brick, by the way, is usually quite enjoyable but he used a weird voice throughout (his mystery noir voice?) that I just couldn't get into. All that said, I listened to the end.

Nicely done…

The author does a nice job of holding your interest…
Could it be better? Probably but I very much enjoyed this read….

As if written by The National Enquirer

Breathless! Many chapters begin, “What if I told you . . . “ Some of the chapters (“world’s greatest mysteries”) rise to the level of, “Where is the cornerstone of the White House?” and “Where is the (supposed) Confederate gold supply?” Of course I have hardly slept an hour since hearing about these mysteries. And the conspiratorial narration - I think by the author - tends to trivialize what is intended to be momentous. I think the stars I gave was charitable. He did have the decency not to inject any more nonsense into the JFK assassination.

Consperacies "debunked" more accurate title

I guess Kieth Ferrell, Brad Meltzer believe 9/11 was pulled off by arabs, just like the 9/11 Commission concluded. Fools.

Great Listen!

Loved the factual history of many objects and events! The words were well spoken. His voice was clear and not monotone. Very good read!