So, this is the first book to read this "winter".
THE BOOK:
Title: The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories
Author: James McConnachie and Robin Tudge
Dewey Decimal Number: (might only apply the the PGPL, I'm not sure) is 001.9MCC
Publication Date: September, 2008
So far, I've only read the first section, and started the second. It's interesting, and I can't read very much at a time, simply because some of these conspiracy theories are frighteningly intriguing. I can see how some people can believe them - even intelligent people! However, I'm also finding that a lot of the time - and this is probably me and my non-political brain here - that I just don't care that much. Seriously, why must there be a conspiracy about Tutankhamun? (p. 4 in the book) I mean, the historical information is interesting, but does it really matter why he died, or whether he was assassinated or died from an illness? History doesn't exactly change however he died - he's still dead, right?
Anyway, like I said, it's an interesting book, and is certainly informational about the different theories. I appreciate the note the authors put in in the introduction:
"Though we have tried to be open-minded and judicious while seeking out the best-substantiated accounts of events, that still doesn't mean you should treat any of the other theories (or any of the "facts" related by us in our discussion of them) with anything other than complete disbelief." (page x of the Introduction, The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories).
This book is meant to be a primer on the different theories, not a proponent of any individual theory or group of theories, and I would love to thank the authors for writing it, as I would never have thought that there could be so many of them!
I'll post more as I continue to read!
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