As you might gather from the title, this book falls into the 'expose conspiracy' subsection of Current Affairs when it is shelved in most bookstores. Unlike most of the books in that genre, this one is not a collection of far-out ramblings by fringe element spokespersons with axes to grind. Far from it, this is a collection of over 45 well-written and well-researched articles and essays. The list of contributors is a virtual who's who of contemporary counter culture political writers. Among them are Richard Metzger, Arianna Huffington, Mike Males, Howard Zinn, William Blum, and Wendy McElroy, just to name a few.
   What makes this book credible is also its main drawback. It is long and exhaustive. A definite pick-up and put down book, but still worth owning. Almost all the selections in the book are not the result of someone just coming up with a theory or having a vision of some sort. They are the result of someone sitting down in a courthouse annex somewhere and taking the time (a lot of time) to sift through and read piles of documents on whatever subject they were researching. The fact that most of the evidence presented is available to anyone with the time and patience to pursue it makes a good point about the age we live in. In the era of technology any major event produces a massive amount of documentation. While remaining under the umbrella of freedom of the press, the powers that be just decide what version of any major event they want the masses to believe and present only the documentation that supports their version of things. Everything else is dumped into boxes, microfiche, or disc and simply not mentioned in the mass media. This whitewash of current events has left enough people with enough nagging doubt that they go out and research whatever it is that's bothering them. Enough of these kinds of folks get together and you have this book.
That's the point that the people at Disinformation are trying to make. Don't believe what you are being spoon-fed in the media, go out and take the time to find out for yourself. As these guys have clearly shown, the truth is not hidden, just obscured. Unfortunately they have also shown that the truth is not pretty and is in most cases disturbing. For example, even before reading this book, I had my doubts that there were only the two kids involved in the whole Columbine mess. The numerous Soldier of Fortune articles about mismatching calibers to the guns recovered not withstanding, it always seemed unlikely to me that two people could have planned and executed that alone with there only help being 'innocent' friends who were duped into purchasing guns and ammo for them. After reading the dozens of excerpts of eyewitness testimony presented in this book, I am certain those guys did not act alone.
Columbine is but one of the subjects covered. Among other noteworthy selections is Philip W. Cooks' piece on the truth about domestic violence. From Brad Shellady we get an insiders look at the confessions of alleged serial killer Henry Lee Lucas revealing that of the 3000 murders he confessed to, he might only be guilty of one. Village Voice regular and editor of this collection, Russ Kick, contributes five pieces. Among them is a story on politicians who want drug laws relaxed titled Leaders Against the Drug War, which was very compelling reading. The list of topics goes on and on. Mad Cow Disease, Waco, Charles Manson, the World Bank, the Vatican Bank, and others too numerous to mention.
This book is definitely an eye opener, it is laid out in a straightforward format, and unlike so many others in this category it does not load you down with a bunch of grainy photos and complicated flowcharts. It would be a shame for this book to sit on the shelves unnoticed and unappreciated. These people went to great lengths to bring some of this stuff to light. Even if you just check it out from the library, you owe it to yourself to read it.
If you would like more info about what all this is about before
plunking down the dough, you can check out the Disinformation website at www.disinfo.com .