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Real Enemies
- Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11
- Narrated by: Marie Hoffman
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Categories: History, Americas
Non-member price: $41.73
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Publisher's Summary
Many Americans believe that their own government is guilty of shocking crimes. Government agents shot the president. They faked the moon landing. They stood by and allowed the murders of 2,400 servicemen in Hawaii. Although paranoia has been a feature of the American scene since the birth of the Republic, in Real Enemies, Kathryn Olmsted tells us that it was only in the 20th century that strange and unlikely conspiracy theories became central to American politics.
In particular, she posits World War I as a critical turning point and shows that as the federal bureaucracy expanded, Americans grew more fearful of the government itself - the military, the intelligence community, and even the president. Analyzing the wide-spread suspicions surrounding such events as Pearl Harbor, the JFK assassination, Watergate, and 9/11, Olmsted sheds light on why so many Americans believe that their government conspires against them, why more people believe these theories over time, and how real conspiracies - such as the infamous Northwoods plan - have fueled our paranoia about the governments we ourselves elect.
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What listeners say about Real Enemies
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ray
- 30-08-2019
Last Chapter is Horrible
The book is ok, then the author turns on the anti-conservative rhetoric in the last chapter. It's fairly dry and largely drawn out without any real high points.
1 person found this helpful
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- Loveshistory
- 31-10-2018
Illuminating and fair account of real and imagined conspiracies and their corrosive effects on American political culture
Illuminating and fair account of real and imagined conspiracies and their corrosive effects on American political culture. This is a succinct, but wide-ranging history of how both actual conspiracies and imagined conspiracy theories have shaped American politics.
1 person found this helpful
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- Dean Keaton
- 08-10-2018
Highly Accurate
Great book. Simply superb. Best read in a very long time. Highly recommended. Accuracy is spot on.
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 13-01-2019
Started off well
A very well read book, my first on audible. Trough the whole book you get a sense of fairness. A conspiracy lover myself it made me look a things in a slightly less conspiracy way. That is until the end. It was a shame for the whole book was very un biased but the end bashing of the latest president seemed more like a personal vendetta. Should have kept it the same as the whole book. If you hate Trump you’ll love this book. If you like Trump, avoid it
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