The 80 Greatest Conspiracies of all Time
Jonathan Vankin and John Whalen
New York, Citadell; 2004; distributed in the UK by Turnaround (www.turnaround-uk.com); p/b, £13.99
The latest edition of the Vankin-Whalen book, all 700 pages of it. The previous version was ‘The 70 greatest…’ and the authors haven’t bothered to write a new introduction which still refers to 70. If you haven’t seen one of these compendiums, it is pretty much as you would expect: short sections on subjects ranging from the silly (Jim Morrison’s death/non-death) to the serious (JFK, 9-11). The bigger the subject, the less satisfactory are the sections. To be of any interest a book like this demands that the author/s know the subjects they are writing about to provide a plausible overview. This the authors manage on some subjects but not others. The section on JFK’s death for example, doesn’t even attempt a summary, merely running us through one of the many developments in the past decade. They are also curiously reluctant to dismiss rubbish as rubbish (e.g. the Gemstone File). Recommended only if you want a quick skim across American-oriented conspiracy theories.