
Under the Eye of Power
How Fear of Secret Societies Shapes American Democracy
Colin Dickey(Author)
Viking (Publisher)
Published on 11. July 2023
Book
Hardback
368 pages
978-0-593-29945-6 (ISBN)
Description
"From beloved cultural historian and acclaimed author of Ghostland, a history of America's obsession with secret societies and the conspiracies of hidden power The United States was born in paranoia. From the American Revolution (thought by some to be a conspiracy organized by the French) to the Salem witch trials to the Satanic Panic, Illuminati and QAnon, one of the most enduring narratives that defines the United States is simply this: secret groups are conspiring to pervert the will of the people and the rule of law. We'd like to assume these panics exist only at the fringes of society, or are unique features of an internet age. But history tells us, in fact, that they are woven into the fabric of American democracy. Cultural historian Colin Dickey has built a career studying how our most irrational beliefs reach the mainstream, why, and what they tell us about ourselves. In UNDER THE EYE OF POWER, Dickey charts the history of America through its paranoias and fears of secret societies, while seeking to explain why so many people-including some of the most powerful people in the country-continue to subscribe to these conspiracy theories. Paradoxically, he finds, belief in the fantastical and conspiratorial can be more soothing than what we fear the most: the chaos and randomness of history, the rising and falling of fortunes in America, and the messiness of democracy. Only in seeing the cycle of this history, Dickey says, can we break it"--
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Penguin Putnam Inc
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 159 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
564 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-593-29945-6 (9780593299456)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
07/2023
Viking
€11.49
Available for download
Person
Colin Dickey