History Decoded

The Ten Greatest Conspiracies of All Time

By: Keith Ferrell, Brad Meltzer

Narrated by: Scott Brick

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)

Thoroughly enjoyable

Great content: topics chosen and storytelling were so enjoyable, enhanced by great voice performance by Scott Brick. No conclusions reached, but the ride is worth the price!

Overall good reading, it makes you think

I enjoyed the book except for his opinion /interpretation / decoding what ever you'd like to call it about the Kennedy assassination, it said nothing really, except disputes everyone else's theory.

Didn’t like the narrator

I enjoyed it overall. But just my opinion, I thought the narrator was trying to talk dirty to me. Or at least he was trying sound deviant. But that’s me....

Followed the TV program

this was interesting and easy to follow. great history lesson. we enjoyed the short stories.

Had expected so much more from the jfk section

Felt like he was biased with the jfk section. Overall liked the rest. Just got me there

More Questions, un answered

Interesting but predictable. Some different facts are shed on a few popular conspiracies. the strongest chapter for me was the Kennedy assassination which has quite a few conspiracies in the conspiracy itself. There was a first for me on the Lincoln assassination when he said Booth lived for a long period of time after killing the president. .

An experience

Brad Meltzer has always impressed me with his books but being new to audible I was in awe. It was as if he was talking to me via Scott Brick. and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.

Meltzer does it again!

Throughout this audio I was reminded of how much I miss the series of DECODED. Awesome reporting and clear understandable facts, once again. please bring the series back to the people who miss you. I highly recommend this audio book!

Good book plagued by some problems

I’ve got to say, I did enjoy this book quite a bit, but I had a few issues with it. It felt a little too much like a transcript of the TV show it was based on rather than a standalone literary work, which is pretty disappointing given it’s author’s credentials. He also had the annoying tendency to repeat the known facts far too frequently, making it feel as if Meltzer were attempting to pad out the book length or was simply recapping after every TV commercial. In addition, the narrator’s natural vocal gravitas and dramatic speech pattern felt over-the-top and goofy at times. I often felt as if he had strayed away from a careful and analytical look at some of America’s most interesting conspiracy theories and had wandered into “spooky ghost story” mode. All that was missing was the occasion well-timed crash of thunder and the creak of wooden stairs.

Very good!

I certainly recommend this book, if you are one of the pursuers of mysteries and secrets, you can commence with this title.