Conspiracy theorizing (or what Richard Hofstadter famously called the paranoid style) is an enduring part of American politics. For such a common feature of the political landscape, there is little consensus on why conspiratorial beliefs blossom. This is not for want of attention; large literatures have addressed the phenomenon. For example, some argue that the causes of conspiracy theories are psychological, stemming from cognitive quirks, authoritarian personality traits, or psychopathologies....
From the corridors of the UN to the palaces of Baghdad, an unprecedented, first person coming of age account of the oil for food scandal that rocked the UN. Michael Soussan was a young, idealistic diplomat when he landed his dream job as a Program Coordinator at the UN's Oil for Food Program, the largest humanitarian operation in the organization's history. His mission would be to provide relief to Iraq's civilian population, struggling to survive in a country under economic sanctions. But Souss...
Influential assassination researcher Harold Weisberg revolves the third installment in his Whitewash series around the photographic evidence available to government officials investigating the death of John F. Kennedy. Given the materials and photographs available to the Warren Commission, Weisberg shows that in numerous cases the government either ignored the evidence it had in front of it or intentionally misrepresented evidence. Using the photographs themselves to show the inadequacies of the...
For 40 years, Swiss banks denied the existence of thousands of accounts opened by Jewish families during World War II as a haven for their savings, until forced into admission in July 1997. Told in the words of the families and lawyer Henry Burnsteyner - who brought the first successful case against the banks - this text reveals how events unfolded. The process opened to question Switzerland's neutrality during the war and focused attention on the everyday crimes of omission and comission which...
From the illustrious George Washington and the infamous J. Edgar Hoover to brilliant imaginer Walt Disney and bad boy of baseball Ty Cobb, Freemasons have influenced every aspect of American life. Yet this secret society remains as controversial and mysterious as ever. In this book, you'll learn the truth about:The power and meaning behind the symbols, rites, and ritualsAlleged connections with Jack the Ripper, the KKK, and the Holy GrailFreemasons vs. the NazisThe centuries-long rivalry with th...
Conspiracy theories have been a part of the American experience since colonial times. There is a rich literature on conspiracies involving, among others, Masons, Catholics, Mormons, Jews, financiers, Communists, and internationalists. Although many conspiracy theories appear irrational, an exaggerated fear of a conspiracy sometimes proves to be well founded. This anthology provides students with documents relating to some of the more important and interesting conspiracy theories in American hist...
Coco Chanel, high priestess of couture, created the look of the chic modern woman: her simple and elegant designs freed women from their corsets and inspired them to crop their hair. By the 1920s, Chanel employed more than two thousand people in her workrooms, and had amassed a personal fortune. But at the start of the Second World War, Chanel closed down her couture house and went to live quietly at the Ritz, moving to Switzerland after the war. For more than half a century, Chanel's life from...
Slaughterhouse is the first book of its kind to explore the impact that unprecedented changes in the meatpacking industry over the last twenty-five years - particularly industry consolidation, increased line speeds, and deregulation - have had on workers, animals, and consumers. It is also the first time ever that workers have spoken publicly about what's really taking place behind the closed doors of America's slaughterhouses. In this new paperback edition, author Gail A. Eisnitz brings the st...
Haunted houses, bitter revenants and muffled heartbeats under floorboards - the American gothic is a macabre tale based on a true story. Part memoir and part cultural critique, Darkly reveals the heart of America's darkness in the specters left from chattel slavery and the persistence of white supremacy. Locating the gothic in technologies of terror, the insurgency of melancholy, and the guilty conscience of a country that got away with murder, Darkly shows how this trauma has been metabolized...