The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories 1 (Rough Guide Reference) [Paperback]

James McConnachie (Author), Robin Tudge (Author), Robin Tudge (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rough Guide Reference | Publication Date: October 17, 2005

The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories is the definitive guide to the world''s most controversial conspiracies. From phoney crucifictions to fake moon landings, and from stolen elections to manufactured viruses, there''s always another story lurking behind the ''official version''. This guide questions whether Princess Diana''s death was an accident? What really happened on 9/11? Why did Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrate on entry? Some theories are sobering, some troubling , others simply crazy, The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories sorts the myths from the realities. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

. . . a succinct compilation of all the best in lunatic, eccentric and sometimes worryingly plausible schemes. -- What’s On in London, 5 Oct 2005

...pick up a box-set of X-Files and spit at official government explanations...that's no bad thing in a democracy. -- Sunday Sport, 16 Oct 2005

A readable, informative, level headed look at over 80 of the best known and researched conspiracies -- Lobster Magazine, December 2005

A snappy, thought-provoking book -- Nottingham Evening Post, 15 Oct 2005

About the Author

James McConnachie spent three years as a researcher for the historian Theodore Zelden, and recently contributed to the best-selling Rough Guide to the Da Vinci Code. Robin Tudge is a freelance writer and guidebook author.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides (October 17, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843534452
• ISBN-13: 978-1843534457
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #455,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compulsive reading, October 13, 2005

By 

Jerry Goodman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories 1 (Rough Guide Reference) (Paperback)

I bought this book as something I could dip into but found I couldn't put it down!

It was full of conspiracy theories I'd never heard of as well as fascinating insights into the classics, like JFK and the Dead Sea scrolls. The authors seemed open-minded and realistic in equal measure - just the right balance. Established theories and crackpot conspiracies were all analysed with the same even-handed logic. Excellent stuff.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful trip into the depths of conspiracies, December 13, 2007

By 

The Anticonspirator (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories 1 (Rough Guide Reference) (Paperback)

this is a praiseworthy collection of so many theories of conspiracy. i was honestly enlightened about the poisoning of Mozart. then i found myself reading about the Yakuza and organized crime. Echelon, the Manhattan project, and Area 51 are in this book too. the Illuminati can be found in various chapters and of course Lennon is analyzed thoroughly. theories about the war in Iraq are plentiful and there are -not surprisingly- many alleged conspiracies involving Swiss banks as well. Assassinations, Nazis, the Taliban, the Imf, CIA, Onassis, Nasa, Satan, Pinochet, Informants, Roswell, Apollo 11, Tesla, Oklahoma bombing, Rwandan genocide. need i go on?
i have five words for this collection of historical events and legendary people:
Glorious. Magnificent. Absorbing. Intriguing. Luminous

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More like an encyclopedic guide than a rough guide, March 13, 2008

By 

Tim Johnson (Fremantle, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories 1 (Rough Guide Reference) (Paperback)

I purchased this book some months ago and have been reading it in bits and pieces since then and there are still little portions that I have yet to examine. Having said that, I am still rating it highly because it is such a tremendously useful tool to possess for all people who read modern history. I admit it: I am a conspiracist. Using one of those tired old cliche's, "where there is smoke there is fire" and from where I am sitting the whole damn forest is burning.

I love the conservatives who continually paint people like me with the dreaded brush of "left-wing conspiracy nut" whenever writers believe that there is more to the story than that which is printed in the headlines of virtually any American newspaper or is heard on Fox News.
By using that kind of language the ideas or theories of the writer are totally blanketed with this comical rubric and no further serious notice need be taken of such laughable ideas. Hence no more investigation that could concievably uncover something that might lead to uncomfortable questions being asked.

This Rough Guide is truly encompassing both historically and comtemporarily; it discusses in enough depth so many of the loose ends in history to, I believe, satisfy all but the scholars of a particular area. This is not to say that the book positively accepts conspiracy theories as a group, rather, the authors look dispassionately at the arguments from most angles and leave the reader to decide for themselves.

In my opinion, the authors placed all the material facts before the reader and gave the reader, therefore, all the necessary factual material with which to make an educated decision about the particular event of group under consideration.