Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America - Hardcover

Robert Alan Goldberg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300090005 ISBN 13: 9780300090000

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2001

Synopsis

There is a hunger for conspiracy news in America. Hundreds of Internet websites, magazines, newsletters, even entire publishing houses, disseminate information on invisible enemies and their secret activities, subversions, and coverups. Those who suspect conspiracies behind events in the news--the crash of TWA Flight 800, the death of Marilyn Monroe--join generations of Americans, from the colonial period to the present day, who have entertained visions of vast plots. In this enthralling book Robert Goldberg focuses on five major conspiracy theories of the past half-century, examining how they became widely popular in the United States and why they have remained so. In the post–World War II decades conspiracy theories have become more numerous, more commonly believed, and more deeply embedded in our culture, Goldberg contends. He investigates conspiracy theories regarding the Roswell UFO incident, the Communist threat, the rise of the Antichrist, the assassination of President John Kennedy, and the Jewish plot against black America, in each case taking historical, social, and political environments into account. Conspiracy theories are not merely the products of a lunatic fringe, the author shows. Rather, paranoid rhetoric and thinking are disturbingly central in America today. With media validation and dissemination of conspiracy ideas, and federal government behavior that damages public confidence and faith, the ground is fertile for conspiracy thinking.

About this title

Book Description

In this enthralling book Robert Goldberg focuses on conspiracy theories in post-World War II America, examining how they became popular and why they remain so. He investigates conspiracy theories surrounding the Roswell UFO incident, the Communist threat, the rise of the Antichrist, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the Jewish plot against black America. Those who suspect conspiracies are not confined to the lunatic fringe, Goldberg shows. In fact, paranoid rhetoric and thinking are disturbingly widespread and have become an integral part of American political culture.

About the Author

Robert Alan Goldberg is professor of history at the University of Utah. He is the author of Barry Goldwater, published by Yale University Press.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0300090005
• ISBN 13: 9780300090000
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368