History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time

by Brad Meltzer

Hardcover, 2013

Status

Available

Call number

HV6275 .M45

Genres

General Nonfiction

History

Nonfiction

Politics, Government, Law and Public Policy

All Topics

Publication

Workman Publishing Company (2013), Edition: 1st Edition, 160 pages

Description

History. Reference. Sociology. Nonfiction. HTML: It's an irresistible combination: Brad Meltzer, a born storyteller, counting down the world's most intriguing unsolved mysteries. And to make this richly illustrated book even richer, each chapter invites the reader along for an interactive experience through the addition of facsimile documents�??the evidence! It's a treasure trove for conspiracy buffs, a Griffin and Sabine for history lovers. Adapted from Decoded, Meltzer's hit show on the HISTORY network, History Decoded explores fascinating, unexplained questions. Is Fort Knox empty? Why was Hitler so intent on capturing the Roman "Spear of Destiny"? What's the government hiding in Area 51? Where did the Confederacy's $19 million in gold and silver go at the end of the Civil War? And did Lee Harvey Oswald really act alone? Meltzer sifts through the evidence; weighs competing theories; separates what we know to be true with what's still�??and perhaps forever�??unproved or unprovable; and in the end, decodes the mystery, arriving at the most likely solution. Along the way we meet Freemasons, Rosicrucians, Nazi propagandists, and the real DB Cooper. A riveting adventure through the compelling world of mysteries and conspirac… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member rufusraider

History Decoded by Brad Meltzer is a good book for all the conspiracy theorists out there. I enjoyed the book. I learned a few things about some of the mysteries. I am not sure some of the stories qualify as the 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time.

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LibraryThing member buffalogr

If you've seen the TV shows, don't bother with the book. It's the same stuff. Meltzer approaches several mysterious occurrences but doesn't solve either of them, leaving the reader/viewer wondering why? Oh, another why...why did he not narrate the book himself; instead of hiring Scott Brick to do

it. Meltzer would have been more effective. It was an interesting diversion, but I'll not be sucked into another Meltzer book.

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LibraryThing member skinglist

I really enjoyed this. Some new theories on well documents conspiracies including JFK and some new to me including DaVinci and the Georgia Guidestones. A wonderful light read for history lovers .

LibraryThing member BenKline

Kind of picked this up randomly on one of my visits to the Hershey library. The premise was intriguing, and as far as quick gimmick reads, it looked good.

But that's all this really is, a quick gimmick read. There's not a whole lot of 'history' to this, or 'information' or 'learning'. Brad Meltzer

wants to tell you he's not a conspiracy theorist..... but that's exactly what he is. It's completely written as a conspiracy theorist, and that's all this really is. Just because he wants to tell you he's not one, doesn't mean he isn't. If I tell you I'm not human.... I'm still human.

The writing throughout is done in a style to try and lend credence to whatever he wants you to believe in kind of conning/rhetoric and underhanded ways. The writing also comes off commonly as childish, even using acronyms in places "I don't care which is right (FYI Mayhew was right)." [quote from the book].

Eh, its just something that could be completely skipped.

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LibraryThing member CRMJones

Interesting to pass some time reading, but...

Not too much content. If you've ever watched a tv show about the assassinations of Lincoln or Kennedy, then you've probably seen this material before. There were a few tidbits and new names mentioned in the JFK murder, basically to refute a conspiracy!

LibraryThing member Auntie-Nanuuq

I'm not sure about this book, it took me about 4 weeks to read..... The author wrote as if he was speaking to his audience, but none of the conspiracy theories were ever proved.... although, many seemed to have more than convincing arguments.

Leonard predicting the Great Flood of the World? JFK &

the fourth bullet (this made sense). The missing Freemasonry corner stones of the White House & Capitol. There is no gold in Fort Knox and the fact that the National Audit has never accounted for the consistently rising prices/value of gold? John Wilkes Booth was not killed, but continued to live under an alias (this made sense). The missing gold of the Confederacy (this also made sense)..... Roswell & Sector 51 (this fell short)

This was interesting but nothing to get excited about....

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LibraryThing member KayIS813

Some of the conspiracies felt like they were really grasping straws and seemed biased. I have to admit though that I was not expecting to enjoy the JFK assassination part but found that one the most enjoyable because it actually did more to disprove the conspiracies than to prove them.

LibraryThing member classyhomemaker

I've always loved a good conspiracy theory so this book of the top 10 "greatest" was a fun read.

The funniest one was the story of John Wilkes Booth's traveling mummy. The coolest one was the marked trees as Bob Brewer has studied some right here in Arkansas! The most believable one was DB

Cooper--that one seems pretty obvious! The not-so-interesting one was about Da Vinci. Not a whole lot of new info there...in fact, I'm not really sure what the conspiracy was. But, it was interesting to see a self-portrait I'd not seen. Regarding aliens---I've always wondered if they are the Bible's Nephilim. All in all, it was a good read. I set it down and literally immediately picked up Meltzer's, The House of Secrets!

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LibraryThing member tuckerresearch

A written version of Meltzer's History Channel show Brad Meltzer's Decoded. So, the subtitle should be "the greatest conspiracies we could make a decent one-hour infotainment show out of," NOT "The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time." Looking for the cornerstone of the White House is a decent

History Channel show for U.S. audience in the years after Nick Cage's National Treasure, not one of the "10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time." Still, these are nifty recaps of the show (one of the last on the "History Channel" that actually had some "history"). Like many books, it contains what the old 1980s computer games used to call "feelies": reproductions of historical documents, etc. A nifty gift for a teen, I'd say, who likes such things.

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