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47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"NOTHING IS SECRET THAT WILL NOT BE REVEALED" (Luke 8:17), May 30, 2007
"The man in the street does not notice the devil even when the devil is holding him by the throat." ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
How many books have you ever read in which the author printed their home phone number on the first page, allowing readers to contact them directly? Well, you'll find Mr. A. Ralph Epperson's number just inside the stark black, white, and gold cover of his excellent "Introduction to the Conspiratorial View of History", THE UNSEEN HAND. I have never met Mr. Epperson, though I have spoken with him by phone on 3 or 4 occasions over the last 12 years; he is one of the nicest, most accommodating authors I've ever been in contact with, and this 1985 book is one I would strongly urge every red, white, black, brown, and yellow American who deeply cares about the Red, White, and Blue to read.
THE UNSEEN HAND is the first of Mr. Epperson's publications I perused - that was about a dozen years ago. I subsequently read several more, and while they all contained valuable information, this nearly 500 page tome with the small print and comprehensive approach to the infamous "New World Order" was easily his best.
(In the year 2000, I was practically forced by The Spirit to undertake an extensively detailed study of Freemasonry. This is far too complex a subject to address in this review, but that same year, I managed to persuade a high-ranking Mason to give me a personal tour of "The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge" of Phoenix, and I was granted a limited time to study that same afternoon in their library located in the Grand Lodge. Part of my mission was to confirm to my satisfaction that the quotations that Mr. Epperson used in his book "Masonry: Conspiracy Against Christianity" did indeed originate with genuine Masonic publications, and that he was not quoting out-of-context in order to twist and misrepresent their meaning. Not only did I find Mr. Epperson to be a very reliable researcher who was adhering to truth, but when I was unable to locate a particular book even in the Masonic library, he xeroxed the pages in question from his copy of it and mailed them to me at his own time and expense. A VERY nice gentleman! And for my part, I was happy to relate to him a few pieces of interesting information that I was able to gain knowledge of as a result of my guided Lodge tour by maintaining an "Aw shucks, gee-whiz, golly-gosh, I'm so impressed" attitude. It's amazing what you can learn by playing dumb. Of course, in my case, some folks swear it ain't an act.)
THE UNSEEN HAND is a thoroughly researched and referenced study that briefly examines nearly every aspect of the "New World Order" conspiracy, from Forms of Government to Science, from Laetrile to The Atomic Bomb, and everything in between, such as Secret Societies, The Federal Reserve, Population Control, Income Taxes, The Civil War, and about 32 other related topics. With each chapter addressing a separate facet of the conspiracy, obviously no subject herein is given a full treatment, for that you will need to search out books targeting a particular area in question, and those books ARE out there. Nevertheless, THE UNSEEN HAND is a remarkable overview, large and densely packed with solid information (including an index) that draws a lucid, meticulous, and faithful picture of the unseen forces that shape our world while we sit mesmerized in front of the glowing box of superficial and misleading images that serve only to fill our minds with the ideas "they" wish us to entertain.
Although this book does contain some, what on its face would seem to be, outrageous and insane charges, I would caution everyone not to dismiss ANYTHING out-of-hand. Dig deeper before dismissing! It has been suggested on this Product Page that Epperson's contention that Jesse James lived to the age of 107 and that Karl Marx was a satanist raises some doubt about the validity of his book. While I tend to believe that the outlaw's assassination by a Robert Ford bullet has been fairly well established now, there is reason to believe that James may have been a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle, as Epperson claims. And though Marx's connection to satanism is unproven (and thus Epperson ought not to have framed it quite so affirmatively), I've looked into that question sufficiently to state that the suspicion most definitely is not without merit. (See "Was Karl Marx A Satanist?" by Richard Wurmbrand.) As for Epperson's opinion of the John Birch Society: buy the book, dial his phone number, and ask him directly.
Overall, THE UNSEEN HAND is an illuminating Introduction to the Conspiratorial View of History by a very serious researcher. The book collects an enormous body of evidence from a massive amount of sources and organizes it in a very logical way. Along with "The Creature From Jekyll Island" by Griffin, "None Dare Call It Treason: 25 Years Later" by Stormer, and "Foundations: Their Power And Influence" by Wormser, I consider THE UNSEEN HAND a "must-read" for all American patriots. It may be a history book, but don't kid yourself, it is really all about our future!
This being the last review I intend to write for this website, I would like to close by quoting those immortal words of Admiral Yoey O'Dogherty, spoken to the brave men aboard the U.S.S. Queeg after the rout of Communist Chinese forces at the battle of Phatphuc Mao: "Men, we've kicked enough Red heinie for one day; let's get some pizza 'n' beer and study America's Constitution. We'll have strawberry blondes for dessert."
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117 of 132 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Real Story?, August 16, 2002
The author of this book, Ralph Epperson, promises to introduce the reader to the fundamentals of the conspiratorial view of history. This view of history is in direct contradiction to the accidental view of history, or the theory of history accepted by most historians today. The conspiratorial view of history posits that all historical events are either controlled or directed by individuals or small groups of powerful people. Accidental history has no controls; events happen because they do, and no amount of effort may successfully direct events.Epperson supports the conspiratorial view of history, and he tries to prove this theory in "The Unseen Hand," a 488 page collection of secret societies, economic totalitarianism, and communist plots. According to Epperson, the overarching theme of conspiratorial history is that of power. When the rich amass enough money, they begin to thirst for power over their fellow human beings. Since most people want to have a say in the way their lives are run, these power hungry individuals must try to enact their plans in secret by using their influence and wealth to effect change that favors the interests of the rich and powerful. The book is roughly chronological. It starts with early events in history and slowly marches through time until it reaches the 1980's. According to Epperson, the conspiracy began with the formation of the Illuminati on May 1, 1776. The Illuminati, founded by a Bavarian professor named Adam Weishaupt, dedicated itself to overthrowing the old world order of monarchy by adopting ideals of reason. Mankind, through reason, would come to reject religion and nationalism and found a collectivistic society. Epperson quickly draws links between the Illuminati and later movements such as Marxism and the socialist Fabians. Another aspect of this conspiracy, in close collaboration with the Illuminati and its later incarnations, is that of international banking. The bankers quickly moved to institute central banks in Europe in order to control the population through the manufacture of fiat money (money backed by debt, not gold or silver) and the creation of inflation. The American revolutionary war and the American civil war were attempts by the bankers to weaken the country and institute a central banking system, a goal finally achieved at Jekyll Island in 1913. No conspiracy book would be complete without a discussion of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Bilderberg group. All four groups are discussed in some depth here. Epperson takes great pains to point out that most of the upper hierarchy in American government are members of these four groups. The goal of these groups, which are funded by foundations set up by banking and oil interests, is to create a "new world order," or a global socialist/communist government ruled by a small oligarchy of wealthy individuals. This book works best when discussing the creation and role of government in a society, as well as the role of central banks and the control of the money interests. Epperson gives succinct explanations of how government and banking work, and how both can cause serious trouble if not properly regulated. It is ridiculous to believe that people in charge of so much money don't know the causes of inflation, or why prices of oil fluctuate as much as they do. Yet on any given day we are constantly informed by policy makers and other elites that they are as confused about why things happen as we are. What doesn't work as well is some of the weird claims that pop up throughout the book. A claim that Karl Marx was a Satanist certainly raised my eyebrows, as did the claim that Jesse James lived to be 107 years old and was a 33rd degree freemason. Where did that come from? We know that DNA tests performed on Jesse's remains leave little doubt that he was killed just as the history books describe. Of course, a conspiracy theorist would claim that the results were doctored or are fabrications. And that is the problem with conspiracy theories: every counterclaim to the conspiracy theory is a lie or a half-truth, which further bolsters the conspiracy. The source material for this book rests heavily on other conspiracy volumes, and most of the material for this book seems to be drawn from books and pamphlets from the John Birch Society. The Birchers built their entire organization around the ideas of a communist conspiracy and the creation of a global new world order. The last chapter of the book devotes a large amount of space in praise to the JBS, so an objective account of conspiratorial history won't be found in this book. Epperson also made the mistake of not going directly to source material for his information. Instead, he relied on the interpretations of others, and some of these people are wackos. This is still an entertaining read for those who want to learn about alternate history or the paranoia of those who believe in such theories. There is good information in this book, but care needs to be taken when looking at the volume as a whole.
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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"The Unseen Hand" by A. Ralph Epperson, December 20, 2005
I first read this book in 1985. Prior to this book, I had read a substantial number of books on this topic.
What separated this book from the rest was the fact that from the beginning Mr. Epperson makes it clear that this book is written from published sources and information and documentation mostly from the secret societies them selves.
He simply put them in chronological order and wrote in a way that as one reviewer put it "...you didn't have to get the dictionary out for every other word".
No, this was well written and most important, at no time did he insult his readers intelligence.
As I said in opening, I first read this book in 1985 (I had to contact the publisher to get a copy. I was on an order list at one of the largest retail book stores in the country. When I had called to follow up almost two weeks later, I was told that they couldn't find this book for me).
Well, that made me want to read it all the more and quite frankly added another dimension of authenticity to it.
I finally received it and devoured it in about 4 to 5 days.
Around 2001 I decided to read it again. This time I took my time (6 mos.) and also started to verify things (none of which could be refuted).
I also started to highlight certain paragraphs. Well, by time I got through the 488 odd pages this time, I realized that I had practically highlighted the whole book!
I realized that I needed to purchase a few more copies to share with others. Rather than going through the hassles I did the first time, I just picked up the phone and dialed the direct number in the book. The phone rang and when answered, I found myself talking to Professor Epperson. He answered the phone himself.
If I had any question of this mans integrity at all, they totally diminished after our 30-45 minute chat.
He is a very gracious and humble man. A rare commodity today.
I encourage all who may have any doubt or are uncertain of any aspect to call and ask to speak to him. This is what he told me to tell a coworker I had loaned a copy to.
I'm sure, I `ll read it a few more times in my life.
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