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Conspiracy: The Greatest Plots, Collusions and Cover-Ups

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A fully-illustrated essential reference for those with an interest in conspiracies. Did the Russians help Donald Trump get into the White House? What happened to Malaysian Airways plane MH370, the flight that "disappeared?" Who poisoned ex-KGB man Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium in a London hotel? How did the body of GCHQ code breaker Gareth Williams end up in a sports bag padlocked from the outside in his Pimlico flat? Who killed Kennedy? What about the tragic events of 9/11, the Illuminati, the Roswell incident, Watergate, and the final hours of Lady Di?

From the toppling of Berlusconi to the idea that the world is run by lizards, The Conspiracy Files examines fascinating conspiracy theories of all kinds, once and for all separating fact from fiction.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

84 people are currently reading
496 people want to read

About the author

Charlotte Greig

56 books25 followers

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5 stars
80 (13%)
4 stars
140 (24%)
3 stars
215 (37%)
2 stars
99 (17%)
1 star
47 (8%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
Profile Image for Amelia.
177 reviews48 followers
August 29, 2018
This wasn't the best conspiracy theory book I have read.

It got to the point where I was only reading the theories I was interested in, and even then it wasn't good.
Profile Image for Carrie.
11 reviews
February 17, 2019
I hate leaving bad reviews but this was complete junk. A quote from the book ....
"On 7 September 1996 Tupac Shakur was hit four times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, after watching a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon. He died from the four gunshot wounds in the Las Vegas University Medical Center hospital six days later, on February 13th."
Profile Image for Mike.
391 reviews24 followers
June 12, 2021
I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes reading history or mystery books.
Profile Image for Shan Wood.
2 reviews
December 24, 2024
Honestly couldn't bring myself to read the last chapter. One of the worst books I have read in a long time. 0/5
Profile Image for Dave.
76 reviews2 followers
April 15, 2019
Not everybody's cup of tea but I liked it 😊
Profile Image for marty.
10 reviews
June 25, 2024
The name Rothschild on the front cover ...now if that's not a conspiracy before we even get started😏
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Lexi.
31 reviews
October 28, 2024
3/5 ⭐️
- [ ] it feels like articles were just copied and pasted into the book.
- [ ] the stories give you a pretty basic overview of you wanted to know more you’d have to watch something else
- [ ] i wouldn’t say it was very reader friendly especially young reader friendly text. it’s a very complicated type of text to read, honestly didn’t know what i was reading half the time.
- [ ] overall this book gives you a good basic knowledge on conspiracy theories but just would’ve liked more depth and better writing style
- [ ] the second section is better! about the aliens and the moon landing that feels like an easier read
- [ ] overall, it was an okay conspiracy book, if you just want to know a little bit then this is the book for you.
Profile Image for Troy.
151 reviews21 followers
August 17, 2023
Decent read for anyone looking for some rather surface level overviews on a variety of different conspiracies. It lacks real depth on any of its subjects and most conclude with a very general comment to the effect of what is generally accepted as the truth.
Profile Image for Jessica Westwood.
123 reviews17 followers
January 31, 2019
Well! I became a full on page reading gannet!! Great little book to introduce you to different conspiracy theories. Evidence and guidelines popped together to give you a general idea of different beliefs and how certain events may or may not of taken place. There were many subjects I was disappointed to only find a few pages were dedicated to, which I would of loved to of been able to read so much more on!

A downfall of mine is I can be rather gullible to what I am told... now I am finding conspiracies and double meanings in everything!!!! ... including my phone dying on me just as they try to make me have an upgrade! ... I know their games!!! Conspiracies are everywhere!

I'm left mind boggled and searching for clues over Paul McCartney!!!

What a fun little book!
Profile Image for Rebecca Tune.
25 reviews4 followers
April 24, 2020
Well,I found this book rather interesting.
I was quite taken in with some of the conspiracy theories, others I thought were a little far fetched!!
I’ve always thought that the leaders of the countries are corrupt & it just goes to show,after reading this, that they are involved in a lot more than what they portray.

If you are a conspiracy theorist or not, you will inevitably find it an interesting read!
2 reviews
February 12, 2018
Dodgy.

This is what is said about the Holocaust:

“Most people believe that six million Jews in Germany had been rounded up by the end of the Second World War. etc

The view of most historians today is the Nazi government in Germany intentionally persecuted Jews."

The implication being this is open to question.
Profile Image for Haley Craig.
299 reviews7 followers
May 6, 2018
wasnt exactly what i expected. took a while to get into the book as i didnt enjoy the first chapter but the rest was quite interesting, most of the information is common knowledge surrounding the more famous figures e.g. diana and JFK. still worth a read
Profile Image for Mary.
54 reviews4 followers
June 23, 2018
Fun book. Does a good job of looking into popular events in history with possible theories as to what happened. does a good job not to try to talk you into anyone theory by laying out the information for you. recommend for anyone that finds conspiracies fun and interesting.
Profile Image for MR MICHAEL A FRANCIS.
22 reviews
August 15, 2020
Not real?

A mind boggling story that leaves ones head spinning & reeling. Is the book for real or not? The stories leaves you reeling.
77 reviews
March 7, 2018
Loved this book although half the so called conspiracies were crap. Good book though.
Profile Image for Jess.
12 reviews
May 2, 2018
The book was good for giving an overall of a lot of theories in a small space, as well as giving prompts to further investigate, however, I don’t think it was particularly well written.
Profile Image for Caroline Smith.
38 reviews
January 23, 2020
I love conspiracy theories, no matter how outlandish or whether I actually believe in them or not. This is the second book of theories that I have read and although I did enjoy it very much, I would have preferred a little more detail in some areas. Whilst there is a lot of information put forward on each conspiracy which makes for an interesting and compelling read, there are a few instances when certain points are merely mentioned and glossed over before quickly moving on to the next point. Although this makes for an easy ready as you’re not bombarded with an overload of information, those who are looking for a little more depth might feel a bit let down by this book.

With that in mind, the overall content of this collection was easy to get stuck into and follow along. I very much liked the inclusion of, what I would classify as, lesser touched upon theories such as the hollow Earth, Chappaquiddick and the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.

Overall, this is a good easy read for those who are wanting to dip that fingers into the field of conspiracy theories, but seasoned readers might find it a bit lack-lustre.
480 reviews4 followers
May 30, 2024
A collection of several different conspiracy theories and a few true conspiracies grouped by subject. I picked up this book because I find the conspiracy stories and alien stories entertaining. This book has lots of entries, so it doesn’t go into great detail on any of them. Just a few pages per an entry to detail the basics of the event, the theory, and the real world “accepted” explanation.
This last part was a surprise for me. Pretty much every other book I’ve read about ghosts, aliens, and conspiracy theories are written by “believers” or others out to milk a bunch of money from believers. This book actually seems to be written from a level headed sceptic’s point of view. It gives actual explanations and in some cases shows the small grains of truth that have been blown up into the wild theory.
This viewpoint is why I rated it 3 stars. If it had been the normal “what if, we don’t know, no one knows, etc” stuff, I would have just given it 2 stars. Because there is nothing groundbreaking here, but it is entertaining.
Profile Image for Jeffrey.
143 reviews1 follower
January 14, 2025
I appreciated how the authors outlined the reasons why some people, particularly Americans, choose to believe in outlandish conspiracy theories such as chemtrails and reptilian beings. Historical government scandals like Watergate and MKULTRA have contributed to this mindset, making it understandable why some individuals might cling to these delusions. The book also describes how the Internet has been used to spread these beliefs globally, leading to an increase in their followers. It also emphasizes the importance of critical thinking as a means to prevent such unrealistic fantasies from taking hold.


Profile Image for Ben G.
146 reviews1 follower
December 21, 2018
Bought for my birthday.

The tone of the book is generally neutral - i.e. the author doesn't try to persuade or dissuade the reader towards a particular conclusion. The theories presented are brief and there is a fairly concise analysis of each.

Entertaining, but you will need to seek other sources if you want to get to the 'meat' of the conspiracies.


Profile Image for Nathan Aracena.
284 reviews
June 22, 2022
Does what it says on the tin. Talks about conspiracy theories. Knew the majority and the stories covered were so brief there wasn’t really any new info in here. Really just read like a Wikipedia article. Not terrible if you’re interested in conspiracies and want some background info but nothing too in-depth or particularly exciting to it.
Profile Image for Ralph Thomas.
31 reviews
January 7, 2023
I have always said that I am not a 'conspiracy theorist,' but it doesn't mean they don't interest me. This book was amazing! It gave a perfect amount of information and a good explanation of any conspiracy theories I haven't heard of. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in conspiracies.
Profile Image for Nada Al-Karmi.
472 reviews47 followers
October 6, 2025
This was an interesting book to read. I knew of, and kina believe in, some of the mentioned conspiracy theories. It was fascinating to read about all the other ones.

The only thing that irked me was the author declaring that he won't pass judgement on any of the theories and just relate the facts and then proceeding to judge and confirm if a certain theory is correct or not.
Profile Image for Nikki .
164 reviews
December 22, 2019
I enjoyed this book however, it is heavily based on American conspiracies and some stories are given loads of pages, whereas others, are given far less. For example, the Princess Diana conspiracies only covered one or two pages, where there are loads more. Still a decent read though
Profile Image for Kiaundria Bellerose.
32 reviews
July 2, 2023
The writing style was not enough to keep me engaged, and the author seemed too lazy to do their own research. This was sloppy, and just thrown together. It reads like a really bad TikTok video. I’m glad I only spent $5 on it at Five Below lol Don’t waste your money on this…
Profile Image for Myrtle.
290 reviews1 follower
January 17, 2024
It was good at the start and then it got really boring. It went from actual cool mysteries like murder and kidnapping to the same 3 stories: secret political groups snore, mind control CIA investigations cool at first and then after the 17th time snore, and then aliens double snore.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews

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