Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this unconvincing potboiler, Marrs, who charged that conspiracies were behind the JFK assassination (Crossfire) and government cover-ups of the UFO phenomenon (Alien Agenda), now offers a sweeping view of world history through the warped prism of conspiracy theory. The world's richest and most powerful individuals, he opines, wield excessive influence over governments and news media through their control of multinational corporations and organizations he refers to as "secret societies," such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the international Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg group (which holds annual closed-door conferences around the globe). The aim of these "secret societies," suggests Marrs, is one-world government and centralized social control, and in this respect, he adds, all these groups and their offshoots carry the imprint of older secret brotherhoods, including Freemasonry and the Illuminati. Conspiracy buffs will have a field day wading through this morass, but other readers will remain unpersuaded by a tract that proceeds by way of innuendo, quotation of other conspiracy researchers' extremist opinions and unsubstantiated statement. Marrs squeezes into his procrustean framework the origins of WWI and WWII, Nazis' occult dabblings, the Russian Revolution, the Morgan and Rothschild banking dynasties and the Knights Templar, and he uncritically entertains a host of maverick theories. His conspiracy trail winds up back in Mesopotamia, as he plies territory mined by Zecharia Sitchin, who believes that extraterrestrials founded the earth's earliest civilizations. Ultimately, this mishmash lacks the semblance of plausibility that helped make Alien Agenda a bestseller. (Apr.)

Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

What secrets connect Egypt's Great Pyramids, the Freemasons, and the Council on Foreign Relations? In this astonishing book, celebrated journalist Jim Marrs examines the world's most closely guarded secrets, tracing the history of clandestine societies and the power they have wielded - from the ancient mysteries to modern-day conspiracy theories.

Searching for truth, he uncovers disturbing evidence that the real movers and shakers of the world collude covertly to start and stop wars, manipulate stock markets, maintain class distinctions, and even censor the news. Provocative and utterly compelling, Rule by Secrecy offers a singular worldview that may explain who we are, where we came from, and where we are going.

Book Info

Examines the history of secret societies and the power they have wielded, from the ancient mysteries to modern-day conspiracy theories. The author uncovers evidence that the real movers and shakers of the world collude to control the fiscal and political architecture of society. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Jim Marrs is a celebrated journalist and the author of Alien Agenda and the New York Times bestseller Crossfire. He lives in Texas.

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Excerpted from Rule by Secrecy : The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids by Jim Marrs. Copyright © 2000. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved

Be forewarned.

If you are perfectly comfortable and satisfied with your own particular view of humankind, religion, history, and the world, read no further.

If you truly believe that humanity has almost reached the peak of its scientific and spiritual fulfillment and that the corporate-owned mass media is keeping you well enough informed, stop here.

But if you are one of those millions who look at the daily news, scratch your head in wonder, and ask, "What in the world is going on?," or if you entertain questions of who we are, where we came from, and where we're all going, you are in for a joy ride.

This book deals with the secrets of government, hidden history, and clandestine religion; the secrets of wealth, power, and control; the secrets rarely recorded in the history books and never mentioned in the mass media. This material may be disturbing and unsettling to some. But no one has ever gained wisdom by studying material that only reinforced their own predetermined ideas.

Addressed here will be issues many would have us believe occupy only the fringe of knowledge. But how often have fringe issues suddenly become areas of major concern? Older readers might recall that irritating but seemingly inconsequential German radical who gained power in Europe in the 1930s. Then there was that small conflict halfway around the world in an obscure place called Vietnam. Or we might remember that little-noticed burglary of Democratic Party headquarters in 1972.

The book also deals with conspiracy, an activity long decried by the major media despite the fact that the American judicial system regularly convicts people for criminal conspiracy.

Do secret societies truly exist? Is there really a secret government? Is there a worldwide conspiracy bent on the subversion of freedom and democracy? Or is such talk just the irrational ramblings of "conspiracy theorists"?The answer all depends to whom you choose to listen. And too many people writing about conspiracy'on both sides of the question'have their own particular agenda. It is time we step back and take the broader view of our world and its history.

As the new millennium begins, the American public is becoming more aware of one not-so-secret conspiracy: that for half the year they work for the government. About the first six months of any given year is spent making money which disappears into taxes before the worker even gets his or her check. Withholding this invisible tax money has, over the years, caused most citizens to forget just how much tax burden they really carry. And this is not to even mention the daily sales, state, city, and other taxes which openly burden us. The simple British tax on tea said to have precipitated the American Revolution was a pittance by comparison.Despite assurances of a healthy economy by the skewed statistics of the mass media and politicians, polls indicate the public feel an increasing uneasiness about the direction of our national life.

This may be why more and more thoughtful people are taking a serious look at conspiracies and the secret groups that spawn them. The Internet is filled with Web sites and chat rooms where conspiracy is the watchword. More and more books and periodicals are being published filled with conspiracies ranging from the secrets of the Crusaders to the JFK assassination.

Yet despite the length and breadth of the Information Highway, the average American remains woefully ignorant. That is not to imply they are stupid or mentally challenged. They have simply not been exposed to the information now available. Many thoughtful, educated people in a variety of fields'physicians, lawyers, computer experts, stock brokers, accountants, bankers, merchants, scientists, teachers, etc.'are totally in the dark about a wide variety of issues and the connections between them concerning who truly rules the United States.Primary causes for such ignorance are the lack of time to educate ourselves and our reliance on a corporate-owned mass media which does not present the information in all its broadest implications. As A. J. Liebling once said, freedom of the press is for those who own the presses . . . or the radio and TV stations.So how does one know what is true and what is not? What is important and what is trivial? Who is really in charge? Are there ongoing conspiracies that affect us all? Are there plots that can be traced back through mankind's history? What are they and what is their purpose?

This book deals with these questions. But before there can be answers, the issue of conspiracy must be addressed.