7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Entertaining and Informative Read, November 6, 2009
This review is from: The Skeptic's Guide to Conspiracies: From the Knights Templar to the JFK Assassination: Uncovering the [Real] Truth Behind the World's Most Controversial Conspiracy Theories (Paperback)
While I am not a serious "Conspiracy Researcher" I found this book to be very fun to read. The book presents theories and essentially leaves it up to you to decide which ones are actually real. If you want to learn more about a particular subject there are books that continue the subjects presented and handy search terms for internet browsing. While some of the conspiracies are clearly false (such as the Illuminati actually being lizard space aliens who played a part in the Kennedy assassination, or something like that) others are plausible enough to make you go "hmmm. What if?"
While I would not imagine this book would appeal to *ahem* professionals in the field, it is a good light read that has filled the hours between college classes with something to smile about. The fictional conspiracist who writes in the margins of the book gives you a sense of how these theories came into being, drawing conclusions from the text that seem ridiculous, yet discourage you from becoming similarly paranoid.
I highly recommend this book to people who enjoy unsolvable puzzles tickling their brain.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining, funny, informative in parts but not a serious tract on the cancer of conspiracy theories, November 27, 2009
This review is from: The Skeptic's Guide to Conspiracies: From the Knights Templar to the JFK Assassination: Uncovering the [Real] Truth Behind the World's Most Controversial Conspiracy Theories (Paperback)
This book is a good enjoyable read, entertainment rather than a serious exploration of conspiracy theories. Its mostly sensible and factual perspective gives a credible general guide to those unfamiliar with some of the theories written about.
The hand-scribbled comments in red ink in the margins on every page from a fictional conspiracy-obsessed reader are often funny and poignant, a fine original idea which works surprisingly well in counterbalancing and highlighting likely reactions to the main text.
Some other reviewers have commented that too much credence is given by the author to the more preposterous and insane theories - like the "9/11-attacks-were-an-inside-job" cult, promoted by a small motley crew of obsessives and charlatans but primarily for which no evidence exists (for a grounded perspective, look up what Noam Chomsky says on the subject).
However, this is surely to miss the point. Monte Cook has not researched these "conspiracies" in great depth, and does not seek to explore all the details of the claims. It's a "Skeptic's Guide" - i.e. a book designed primarily to entertain, aimed at the casually interested reader who has neither time nor inclination to obsess through internet conspiracy sites and devour a large number of conspiracy books. People who have more grounded and productive lives might appreciate an easy-read guide to a very 20th/21st century phenomenon which has exploded in the internet age, and it is for this audience that the book is written.
The check-list at the end of each chapter is an interesting and bold idea, which partially succeeds. However the informed reader will see that the author has not really done in-depth homework on all the issues: as an example, at the end of the chapter on alien abductions (not a conspiracy per se but the intentional covering-up of the program and ridiculing of witnesses may well be) none of the works of Hopkins, Mack, Jacobs, Fowler or any of the esteemed and respected mainstream researchers is referenced at all. This might just be an oversight, or the author's very slight aquaintance with the subject and ignorance of the sheer quantity of data. However to the author's credit, he does acknowledge something is going on and gives the likelihood of abductions being true a 6/10.
So in summary, if you're looking for a serious tract examining the origins and propagation of conspiracy theories to the gullible, then look elsewhere. If you accept this book as entertainment, broadly on track and a good humorous read, with some useful information for the largely uninformed reader, you won't be disappointed.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
missing the skeptic part, June 18, 2010
This review is from: The Skeptic's Guide to Conspiracies: From the Knights Templar to the JFK Assassination: Uncovering the [Real] Truth Behind the World's Most Controversial Conspiracy Theories (Paperback)
It was a fun read and solid overview of the main conspiracies out there - and the various connections between them
but I found the skeptic content a little light
it was less about the conspiracies and more about the attachment of the conspirators to their flights of fancy
which, I guess it's a bit pointless to debunk for skeptics and impossible to explain why the conspirators are wrong
because no evidence of a conspiracy is always proof of the conspiracy.
nina
[...]
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