The Big Book of Conspiracy Theories: History's Biggest Delusions and Speculations, From JFK to Area 51, the Illuminati, 9/11, and the Moon Landings

by Tim Rayborn

Did America fake the moon landing? Was 9/11 an inside job? What is the government hiding at Area 51? From secret societies to aliens and assassinations, decode history's greatest cover-ups and decide for yourself. Humanity has long been obsessed with the unexplained, and we have ascribed many mysteries to underground groups and secret schemes. With seeming coincidences piling up around significant events, it's no wonder so many theories have emerged over the years. But how many coincidences are too many before it becomes a conspiracy? That's for you to decide. Explore this compelling collection of unexplained circumstances and uncover hidden agendas, startling allegations, and baffling evidence. Unmask the remarkable origins and implications of these theories, Connect the dots between suspicious coincidences and discover the craziest mysteries in the world with The Big Book of Conspiracy Theories .

208 pages, Hardcover

Published October 11, 2022

About the author

Tim Rayborn is a historian, medievalist, and musician, with an MA and PhD from the University of Leeds in England. He is a writer on a variety of topics in history and the arts, from the academic to the amusing to the appalling. He has written nearly 50 books to date.

A professional musician with a specialty in medieval repertoire, he plays dozens of musical instruments, has appeared on more than 40 recordings, and has performed in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia.

Reviews

[Cameron Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doesn't go deep into any conspiracy theories. It kind of just tells you what it is and moves on to the next which is not very interesting. A lot of the conspiracy theories, especially towards the end about famous people are very repetitive. Most conspiracy theories go back to the same groups but it doesn't explain it any further other than that they associated with xgroup so each conspiracy theory kind of stounds the same. The author also makes it clear that he doesn't believe in any of them and brings a very sarcastic tone. So when you start thinking about oh this might be interesting. It makes you feel like an idiot and stops your imagination

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written with a sense of humor and sarcasm! Fun and informative.

[Lizzie (Dizzy Lizzie’s Book Emporium) · Rating 2 out of 5]

An entertaining read, but by no means a good book. With all the sarcastic tone that I would expect from a conspiracy theory book, I learned some new conspiracies that I hadn’t heard of before, but for the most part, this is a rehashing of the same old wives tales I’ve grown up hearing.

This book was in need of some serious editing. Not only were there blatant misspellings and grammatical errors, the pictures included throughout the book often had nothing to do with the conspiracy being explained. It’s as though the author or editors just slapped together some spooky pictures without much thought to how pictures might serve to enhance the telling of these tall tales.

On top of all this, I find it quite strange that a book would call itself “The Big Book of Conspiracy Theories” and fail to include some of history’s most famous conspiracies. Here is a non-exhaustive list of conspiracies that this non-exhaustive book of conspiracies left out:
1. Nero and the burning of Rome (perhaps the most egregious omission because there is LITERALLY A PICTURE OF NERO WATCHING ROME BURN ON THE COVER AND THEN THE BOOK DOES NOT ADDRESS IT)
2. The disappearance of the Roanoke colony
3. Stonehenge
4. Atlantis
5. Big Foot / The Yeti / Abominable Snowman
6. Loch Ness Monster
7. Princess Diana's Death
8. Jon Benet Ramsey's murder
….and I’m sure that’s not even scratching the surface of relevant myths that could have been included in this book.

Overall, this is a fun book to skim on a Saturday afternoon, but it is by no means ground breaking or the authority on the subject.