Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies

The Straight Scoop on Freemasons, The Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Black Helicopters, The New World Order, and many, many more

By: Arthur Goldwag

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

Did you know?

• Freemasonry's first American lodge included a young Benjamin Franklin among its members.

• The Knights Templar began as impoverished warrior monks then evolved into bankers.

• Groom Lake, Dreamland, Homey Airport, Paradise Ranch, The Farm, Watertown Strip, Red Square, “The Box,” are all names for Area 51.

An indispensable guide, Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies connects the dots and sets the record straight on a host of greedy gurus and murderous messiahs, crepuscular cabals and suspicious coincidences. Some topics are familiar—the Kennedy assassinations, the Bilderberg Group, the Illuminati, the People's Temple and Heaven's Gate—and some surprising, like Oulipo, a select group of intellectuals who created wild formulas for creating literary masterpieces, and the Chauffeurs, an eighteenth-century society of French home invaders, who set fire to their victims' feet.©2009 Arthur Goldwag; (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

“The kind of reference manual that the Internet cannot supplant . . . Goldwag keeps the facts straight and gives the rumors -- no matter how lurid and entertaining -- about as much respect as they deserve.”—The Washington Post

“Marvelous.”—Scientific American

“Arthur Goldwag is a shrewd, fair minded, learned and entertaining tour guide through a world that’s simultaneously funny and frightening. Not a page goes by without some “I-didn’t-know-that!” nugget. Given what’s going on this ever-more-paranoid society, a book like this becomes not only titillating but crucially important.”—Steven Waldman, Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of Beliefnet.com

“The answer to your burning questions about subjects from Area 51 to the Yakuza.”—Details

“Delightful.” –The Weekly Standard

“Goldwag is a colorful writer who makes good use of his material as he aims to explain, rather than debunk or expose, a fascinating diversity of beliefs.”—Boston Globe

“The author’s delivery is engaging and entertaining. The amount of research done in this book is astounding. . . . An incredibly insightful, thoroughly enjoyable look at society’s shadow.”—Armchair Interviews

“Goldwag navigates his way through the wilder reaches of human belief with great urbanity.”
—Mark Booth, author of The Secret History of the World: As Laid Down by the Secret Societies

“As entertainingly written as it is enlightening.”
—Phillip Lopate

Not bad, needs some polish

The text:

Nicely written with just the right amount of depth across a variety of CCSSs... Goldwag doesn't "go deep" but does provide pop-culture worthy details on many of the topics he covers, for example I now know where the phrase "drinking the kool-aid" comes from.

The audio:

Sanders maintains a pleasant tone and cadence but the presentation is marred by the jarring inclusion of birth and death dates for every.single.person.mentioned!

The bottom line:

A good casual read.

Length and Width but minimum Depth

Defined an amazing number of organizations and how many of them interconnect. Not very in-depth on most. The author's bias was often evident especially on "conspiracy theories". It was still interesting and worth listening to.

Encyclopedic

Like reading the encyclopedia, the book lacks focus or thesis and is somewhat tedious. But for those looking for a compendium of
nut cases this provides a good entry point. Future editions should consider omitting the birth and death dates of every person mentioned in the book.

A great listen

Informative without being dull. All things considered an enjoyable and informative book.

Great info ,Non Biased, excellent

Really good, another of very interesting information, presented with a completely non biased opinion, excellent.