Item Detail
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25157
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0
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0
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English
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The Devil Next Door
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The United States of Paranoia : A Conspiracy Theory
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New York, NY
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Harper
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59-67
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A compendium of conspiracy theories in America, both past and present, and those who embrace them. "The fear of conspiracies," writes Reason magazine books editor Walker (Rebels on the Air: An Alternative History of Radio in America, 2001), "has been a potent force across the political spectrum, from the colonial era to the present, in the establishment as well as the extremes." In fact, in the United States, "it is always a paranoid time."
After offering a loose categorization of conspiratorial styles--Enemy Outside, Enemy Within, Enemy Above, Enemy Below, Benevolent Conspiracy--Walker goes on to show how these paranoiac archetypes have played themselves out in American history. Early white settlers feared not just Native Americans, but a vast Indian conspiracy aided and abetted by the Catholic Church. Witches did the work of the devil in colonial New England. Mormons had an army of assassins and stole the bodies and souls of women. [Given chapter]