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Shadow Masters: An International Network of Governments and Secret-Service Agencies Working Together with Drugs Dealers and Terrorists for Mutual Benefit and Profit
This investigation examines how behind-the-scenes collaboration between governments, intelligence services and drug traffickers has lined the pockets of big business and Western banks. Beginning with a last-minute request from ex-governor Jesse Ventura, the narrative winds between the author's own story of covering "deep politics" and the facts he has uncovered. The ongoing campaign against Victor Bout, the "Merchant of Death," is revealed as "move/countermove" in a game of geopolitics, set against the background of a crumbling Soviet Union, a nascent Russia, bizarre assassinations, wars and smuggling.
312 pages, Paperback
First published March 30, 2007
28 people are currently reading
366 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Estulin
28 books149 followersDaniel Estulin is an author, public speaker and investigative journalist who specializes in researching and reporting the Bilderberg Group, an annual invitation-only conference of the elites in the fields of business, finance, media and politics.
In an interview, Estulin describes his background, which led him to his profession:
"I’m a Russian expatriate who was kicked out of the Soviet Union in 1980. My father was a dissident who fought for freedom of speech who was jailed, tortured by the KGB. Suffered two political deaths. When these people got tired of us they threw us out. We moved to Canada and 12 years ago I came to Spain. My grandfather was a colonel in the KGB and the counter-intelligence in the 1950s, so I am privileged somewhat to get a lot of the information from secret service which are our best sources of information. Not only the KGB people but the MI6 people, the CIA because most of the people who work for the secret service as you probably know are patriots and they love their country and they’re doing it for the good of the nation and they’re the first ones absolutely terrified of the plans of the Bilderbergers".
In an interview, Estulin describes his background, which led him to his profession:
"I’m a Russian expatriate who was kicked out of the Soviet Union in 1980. My father was a dissident who fought for freedom of speech who was jailed, tortured by the KGB. Suffered two political deaths. When these people got tired of us they threw us out. We moved to Canada and 12 years ago I came to Spain. My grandfather was a colonel in the KGB and the counter-intelligence in the 1950s, so I am privileged somewhat to get a lot of the information from secret service which are our best sources of information. Not only the KGB people but the MI6 people, the CIA because most of the people who work for the secret service as you probably know are patriots and they love their country and they’re doing it for the good of the nation and they’re the first ones absolutely terrified of the plans of the Bilderbergers".
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 20, 2012
Assembled like a collection of short stories or articles. Some are more interesting than others. If you don't already believe that the most powerful people in the world are committing the most extreme crimes against humanity to maintain and increase their power this book will probably not sway you. If you do believe that the governments of the world are puppet shows this book doesn't really tell you much you didn't already know. It does present some case scenarios that illustrate the mechanics in motion. Like most alternative press it is in need of better proof-reading.
December 22, 2011
I'm reading this as research for my current project, which is the novelization of Madam President. Daniel Estulin paints a dark picture of the way world actually works.
August 25, 2020
It was a veeeery interesting book. I totally recommend it
January 28, 2019
I just finished this fascinating read about all the things the mainstream media will not tell us. I admit, I am an avowed conspiracist and Shadow Masters fits very comfortably in this broad genre of conspiracy writing. My saving grace from the many conservative commentators is that I have for years been reading much the same material in other books by other authors. Shadow Masters pulls the carpet back that much further and articulates the immense problem that we poor citizens must overcome in order to see something of the true state of the world in which we live.
In the Epilogue that I have just finished reading, Estulin writes, particularly on page 232 (regarding the media), “The Shadow Master’s regime does not want bad news just good news...” and as examples, he cites Afghanistan, Kosovo, Russia and Victor Bout. I am embarrassed because perhaps the biggest player in this media sham is Rupert Murdoch who is from Australia, originally, and the university carrying his name is unfortunately just several kilometres from where this is being typed.
Estulin even brought out new material that surprised an old conspiracy reader like me when on pages 223 and 224 he talked about 58 major explosions around the world and the belief of some people that they were really micro nuclear weapons explosions; probably the most well known would be the Oklahoma City Federal Building. Estulin uses as his source in Chapter Six, Nuclear Gamesmanship, a guy called Dimitri Khalezov, a former Soviet nuclear intelligence officer who apprises the author of many eye-opening myths about dirty bombs and suitcase bombs. The price paid for Shadow masters is recouped in this chapter alone.
If Chapter 6 does not satisfy the price paid for the book then Chapter 2 certainly would and the reasons are the same as Estulin set out in the Epilogue; the corporate media simply will not tell us what is going on around the world or what has already happened. The Economic Rape of Russia was a sobering read. I have realized for too many years that our media would rather tell us about the number of fire trucks and the number of men that it took to get a cat down from its perch 20 meters up in a suburban tree but I can easily recall how little explanation they have told us about why the terrible conditions in the first years of the post Soviet Union happened. Estulin opens this sordid, sordid story and lays open what the western countries did to the Soviet Union and it is not a pretty story.
The only negatives I can say about Shadow Masters is the author’s acceptance of the existence of al Qaeda and the US government’s version of what happened on 9-11; I cannot believe that al Qaeda came into existence on its own nor that 9-11 was planned by a guy dying of kidney disease in a cave in Afghanistan but what do I know? Buy the book; you will be intellectually rewarded many times over.
In the Epilogue that I have just finished reading, Estulin writes, particularly on page 232 (regarding the media), “The Shadow Master’s regime does not want bad news just good news...” and as examples, he cites Afghanistan, Kosovo, Russia and Victor Bout. I am embarrassed because perhaps the biggest player in this media sham is Rupert Murdoch who is from Australia, originally, and the university carrying his name is unfortunately just several kilometres from where this is being typed.
Estulin even brought out new material that surprised an old conspiracy reader like me when on pages 223 and 224 he talked about 58 major explosions around the world and the belief of some people that they were really micro nuclear weapons explosions; probably the most well known would be the Oklahoma City Federal Building. Estulin uses as his source in Chapter Six, Nuclear Gamesmanship, a guy called Dimitri Khalezov, a former Soviet nuclear intelligence officer who apprises the author of many eye-opening myths about dirty bombs and suitcase bombs. The price paid for Shadow masters is recouped in this chapter alone.
If Chapter 6 does not satisfy the price paid for the book then Chapter 2 certainly would and the reasons are the same as Estulin set out in the Epilogue; the corporate media simply will not tell us what is going on around the world or what has already happened. The Economic Rape of Russia was a sobering read. I have realized for too many years that our media would rather tell us about the number of fire trucks and the number of men that it took to get a cat down from its perch 20 meters up in a suburban tree but I can easily recall how little explanation they have told us about why the terrible conditions in the first years of the post Soviet Union happened. Estulin opens this sordid, sordid story and lays open what the western countries did to the Soviet Union and it is not a pretty story.
The only negatives I can say about Shadow Masters is the author’s acceptance of the existence of al Qaeda and the US government’s version of what happened on 9-11; I cannot believe that al Qaeda came into existence on its own nor that 9-11 was planned by a guy dying of kidney disease in a cave in Afghanistan but what do I know? Buy the book; you will be intellectually rewarded many times over.
September 3, 2018
Daniel Estulin was an undercover agent who worked for the KGB during years, finding how twisted the world was/is/will be, he became a journalist. One of the best investigative journalists I’ve ever read. What I like about his style is that he doesn’t hold a promethean figure, bringing light to the blind ones, his writing makes you feel an accomplice – sometimes guilty – for being part of the big picture. Everything is downhill.
The story begins with Russian warlord Victor Bout, the kinda superhero you don’t want your kids to know about. After a detailed research of his impact in the end of the twentieth century (you can watch Nic Cage’s ‘Lord of War’ movie, tip of the iceberg), the story delves into the breakdown of Africa: rivers of blood, starvation, diamonds, bribery, and indifference.
Next chapter: Russia. Or should I say, “whatever happened to the Soviet Union”? No ideal is enough to keep a nation safe from its own children. After decades of countering the economic war, after decades of growth and ideological escalation, the corrupt burned the red flag down, sold cheap Russia’s energetic resources, fed the metagroups, and targeted their own people to get tons of money. At what cost? Damnation? Salvation?
That’s the last chapter: the influence of exclusive religious groups on the global setting. It’s absurd. In the name of a faceless God, they decide what country must bleed. In the name of a faceless God, they decide what people shall perish of thirst, hunger and war. Puppeteers? Hell no. They see themselves as “the chosen ones”, and they don’t care for the generations to come.
They don’t hide in the shadows anymore. They need the press by their side, for propaganda, for sensationalist journalism, for the record. They need as much exposition as possible to make people believe they are the answer, that they hold the key, that they know the truth, and no matter what, they want people to believe that they are fair.
Here’s the thing. This book was first published in 2007; eleven years ago, Daniel Estulin was shedding light over Latin America’s future. Now we’re living the consequences.
The story begins with Russian warlord Victor Bout, the kinda superhero you don’t want your kids to know about. After a detailed research of his impact in the end of the twentieth century (you can watch Nic Cage’s ‘Lord of War’ movie, tip of the iceberg), the story delves into the breakdown of Africa: rivers of blood, starvation, diamonds, bribery, and indifference.
Next chapter: Russia. Or should I say, “whatever happened to the Soviet Union”? No ideal is enough to keep a nation safe from its own children. After decades of countering the economic war, after decades of growth and ideological escalation, the corrupt burned the red flag down, sold cheap Russia’s energetic resources, fed the metagroups, and targeted their own people to get tons of money. At what cost? Damnation? Salvation?
That’s the last chapter: the influence of exclusive religious groups on the global setting. It’s absurd. In the name of a faceless God, they decide what country must bleed. In the name of a faceless God, they decide what people shall perish of thirst, hunger and war. Puppeteers? Hell no. They see themselves as “the chosen ones”, and they don’t care for the generations to come.
They don’t hide in the shadows anymore. They need the press by their side, for propaganda, for sensationalist journalism, for the record. They need as much exposition as possible to make people believe they are the answer, that they hold the key, that they know the truth, and no matter what, they want people to believe that they are fair.
Here’s the thing. This book was first published in 2007; eleven years ago, Daniel Estulin was shedding light over Latin America’s future. Now we’re living the consequences.
September 27, 2020
I've grown in some grudging appreciation of Estulin, if for no other reason than his dogged determination. Something to be admired in that. I do get tired of his inflated self importance he constantly has to interject into every one of his books though. Here's the thing -- I would actually be inclined to give this book four stars if I didn't feel like it's largely preaching to the choir. I see little chance of him, or this, "converting" people not already predisposed to secret societies, conspiracy theories, new/one world order type things, etc. I'm not saying I think it's impossible or implausible (some of those topics). It's just that if these things were easy to prove, there'd be much more to do so from more sources equally credible, if not moreso. For instance, why does it seem like every damn Knights of the Templars books differ on so many key elements? And why do there have to be so many of these books? Cause like religious sects, there's little universal agreement, everyone has their own opinion, and rarely does one sway the other. Likeso here, as with other similar topics. Recommended for those open to such...
January 31, 2021
The book was ok
There was some good information and evidence about how officials in the US government and the media can put take evidence on some man. However, the writing seemed directionless at times and it seemed like bunch of information compiled together, which becomes a drag on readers. There was no opinion either to what he thought may have happened after finding all this evidence. Not worth the time for readers to read this book.
There was some good information and evidence about how officials in the US government and the media can put take evidence on some man. However, the writing seemed directionless at times and it seemed like bunch of information compiled together, which becomes a drag on readers. There was no opinion either to what he thought may have happened after finding all this evidence. Not worth the time for readers to read this book.
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November 2, 2014Libro divulgativo sobre el club Bilderberg, que según las malas lenguas es el que domina el mundo económico mundial.
Está escrito por un periodista. Resulta ameno aunque a veces un poco cargante por la cantidad de datos que aporta, tanto de personas como de hechos, lo que ademas de hacer poco menos que imposible recordarlo te queda al final un marasmo de datos.
Está escrito por un periodista. Resulta ameno aunque a veces un poco cargante por la cantidad de datos que aporta, tanto de personas como de hechos, lo que ademas de hacer poco menos que imposible recordarlo te queda al final un marasmo de datos.
August 17, 2012
Conspiração? Muitas verdades a incomodar !
December 29, 2015
Periodismo sobre las "fuerzas ocultas" -que al final se vuelven incómodamente transparentes- que dirigen la economía del crimen y el capitalismo global.
May 15, 2016
One of his best.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews