The world of conspiracy theories has stretched generations and appears to be growing with so many of the world’s events now coming with a plethora of alternative stories being proposed. But how do we sort the fact from the fiction, and do any of these theories really hold up? And perhaps more importantly, if we’re not being told the full extent of the truth, what are those in control attempting to hide?
Conspiracy takes us on a whistle-stop tour through 48 of the biggest conspiracy theories to emerge and rise to notoriety in the past few centuries. Including issues such as Donald Trump and QAnon, the deaths of Princess Diana, Elvis Presley, John Lennon and John F. Kennedy, as well as Watergate, the Post Office Scandal and the Sandy Hook Massacre, Shircore explores the context surrounding each of these conspiracies, the reasons the theories arose and whether any of them stand up to evidence and logical reasoning when put up to the test. Each section also includes a range of evidence, implications and mysteries that have muddied the waters on what certain figures would wish to be an open and shut case.
I can’t say I’m much of a conspiracy theorist myself. Maybe it’s my trusting nature but so many of these wild claims that circulate whenever something major happens have never caught my imagination, yet seem to take hold of so many, particularly in the United States. Nevertheless, this was a decent read all things considered. It opened my eyes to some of the biggest conspiracies that I’d heard of and those which I hadn’t, as well as leaving enough detail to make up my own mind on each, whilst also making clear what the author himself thinks. It also allowed me to learn about the life and times of some extraordinary people, the good, bad and the debatable, and how conspiracies are able to take hold when evidence is missing or becomes contradictory.
I appreciated that each section was broken down into a logical structure, explaining the event or person at hand, discussing the official line and why this has been presented, any issues with this logic, and then following on with the conspiracies themselves and finishing with judgement as to whether they may hold any weight. It was also a positive decision to avoid casting definitive judgement except in particularly clear cases where the held conspiracies must be abandoned. It is mentioned several times that these are conspiracies because the full truth is uncertain, and so avoids prescribing a theory as definitive, whilst casting out those which deserve to be.
It was also fascinating to explore the range of conspiracies included, from multiple timeframes, governments, countries, notorieties and significances to different people across the world. Some, such as those covering Prime Minister Harold Wilson, Porton Down and the Iraq War dossier, may have been much more familiar and relevant to me as a British reader, but the accounts from across the world were equally as enjoyable to read about, particularly when you start to join dots between these theories.
So many of the accounts here, both verified and debated, include questions regarding the CIA and FBI, the relationship between elected officials and these services, and the wider geopolitical environment they were operating in. When you see the list of total conspiracies the CIA in particular are named or implicated in worldwide, it is quite chilling to consider just how far the American Secret Services will go to “protect their citizens”.
I will say, there were points at which Conspiracy felt somewhat formulaic and repetitive in structure and subject matter. There were occasions when very similar conspiracies are presented for multiple figures which potentially could have been condensed slightly, and I would have liked to see some of the chapter structures vary a little bit more in places just to avoid the slight repetition that was occurring (or maybe it was just my shock that yet another conspiracy theory concerned the CIA in some form or another!).
My other main grievance with this book was the way in which it handled conspiracies that the author was able to claim were not conspiracies. Several times, the usual discussion about a presented issue would occur, before the author is able to discard the speculation due to facts actually lining up or just insufficiency of the arguments presented. I was glad to see ones such as these included, as it is important to expose conspiracy theories that are simply, undeniably false in an attempt to avoid unnecessary mistrust and speculation, but these were randomly included with the other theories. I think it may have been more beneficial to split this book into two sections and spend the first dealing with all of the indisputable falsehoods before moving on to conspiracy theories that could be said to have more weight to them. It felt on occasions like this that we had fully discussed a conspiracy theory at length before it was stated to be nonsense and not a conspiracy and simply moving on, a slightly anticlimactic development.
If you are curious about conspiracies or determined that it didn’t happen quite as they say it did, you will love Conspiracy. It handles all sorts of dark theories with care and precision, whilst also allowing you to make your own mind up regarding the situation presented. If you’re looking for specific theories or not too sure, maybe searching the web may be a place to consider first, as some of the arguments here direct you to this source and means you don’t have to read all the ones you don’t care about as much. It was a fine read and I’m sure that anyone would be able to pick up to reimagine what has been told!
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Conspiracy (ISBN: 978-1-78946-616-4) was published in 2022
