Photograph: Bettmann/Bettmann Archive
Effective conspiracy theories draw in believers by appearing to give a glimpse behind the curtain, of how the world really works, while preserving a sense that even in the modern technological era, there are still mysteries beyond most people’s understanding.
The problem is that most conspiracies come at a cost. It might seem harmless to believe aliens have made contact with humans, but suggesting that terror attacks were “false flags” or that secret societies are abducting children can fracture communities, provoke violence, and tear families apart.
That mix of silly and serious, compulsion and repulsion can make books on conspiracy theories very compelling. These are five of my favourites – all about conspiracies, rather than spreading them, of course. Forewarned is fore-armed, after all – knowing how conspiracy theories work, what they have in common, and how they’ve spread before is crucial to understanding how they might be stopped.
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Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK by Gerald Posner
Most Americans believe that Lee Harvey Oswald didn’t act alone when he killed John F Kennedy – but this book should change their minds. It’s both meticulously reported and pacy as a thriller, and if it doesn’t convince you of the truth of the Kennedy assassination, nothing will.
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Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein
Most people who write about conspiracy theories do so because they’ve been drawn to that world through their own curiosity. That wasn’t the case for Naomi Klein, who was largely dragged in against her will.
Through her career, Klein had often been confused with her fellow writer Naomi Wolf. But while once this was harmless (if annoying), when Wolf went down the Covid rabbit hole, it was anything but. Suddenly, Wolf was spreading dangerous misinformation about Covid vaccines – and people were still mixing up the two women. This book is Klein’s story of following her titular double into conspiracy-land.
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Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History by David Aaronovitch
A confession: this book is something of a comfort blanket for the sort of person who has never been taken in by conspiracy theories and feels something close to disdain for the sort of person who is. That makes it a fun read for those of us who want a potted history of conspiracy theories throughout the ages and why they’re such nonsense – just don’t expect it to provide much of an explanation as to why and how they pull people in.
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Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy by Talia Lavin
To write this book, Talia Lavin went where most of us would be loath to tread, spending a year or so of her life in some of the nastiest far-right corners of the internet. Through a mixture of undercover online work with various personas and some gutsy attendance at in-person conferences, she shows not just the workings of the fringes, but how their views are “laundered” into the mainstream by seemingly more innocuous influencers.
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The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory by Jesse Walker
This book flipped how I thought about conspiracy theories for good. The core of its argument is a challenge to the view held by most of us that conspiracy theories belong to the fringes of society and the fringes of history. Walker uses American history – and its mythmaking – to suggest that conspiracy theories, and their accompanying sense of “us v them”, were essential to American nation-making. It makes for a compelling, if unsettling, read.
• The Other Pandemic: How QAnon Contaminated the World by James Ball is published by Bloomsbury. To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
