Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History by David Aaronovitch is a work which is both interesting and useful. I listened to it as an audio book for a book discussion group. I had not heard of the work until it was selected by the book group but I am glad I was exposed to it. The wording of the book title is not one I would have chosen but that is a minor quibble. In essence the book gives detailed examples of historical events which got twisted by conspiracy theories.
Aaronovitch does a masterful job of documenting the fraud surrounding “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”. The book discusses in detail how the fiction started and how several incredibly unscrupulous people propagated and expanded the falsehoods. Just that section alone justifies getting the work.
The work touches on wide range of events ranging from a discussion of the Holy Grail to the death of Marilyn Monroe. These are topics with which I was familiar however I was not familiar with the case of Hilda Murrell who was murdered in the UK. This part of the book is the portion which I found had the biggest impact because it was a case that was new to me. It was amazing as Aaronovitch describing how conspiracy theories about the poor woman's death grew. It had the "obvious" villains such as the nuclear industry and sleazy politicians. Get the book to find out what really happened.
I recommend the book. I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in Pearl Harbor, Princess Diana, the assassination of JFK or any similar topics. And if you know someone going around claiming that attacks of Septemeber 11, 2001 (aka 9/11) were masterminded by Dick Cheney as a favor for his Galatic Overlords please make them aware of this book. They can listen to it or read it either way I expect a net benefit for humanity.
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