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'Timely and troubling' Evening Standard
'A necessary book' David Aaronovitch
'Frequently jaw-dropping' Huffington Post


From UFOs to the New World Order, the inside story of how conspiracy theories won over America.

In November 2017, a serial climate change denier and anti-vaxxer was elected President of the United States. The rise of Donald Trump marked the beginning of a new American epoch: the age of the conspiracy theorist.

Now, Anna Merlan goes undercover in America's sprawling network of conspiracy theorists and uncovers their secrets. She meets the UFOlogist who claims to have travelled to Mars with a young Barack Obama. She chats with the 'pizzagate' truthers who think Washington D.C.'s favourite pizzeria is run by a satanic paedophile ring. And she bumps into Alex Jones, the YouTube impresario who thinks the state is using chemical warfare to turn the population gay - and who happens to be on first-name terms with the leader of the free world.

Merlan reveals a world of innuendo and propaganda lying just beneath the surface of US culture. It might just help explain the political turmoil of our time.
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'Through exhaustive research, personal interviews, and a critical yet at times appropriately empathetic approach, writer Anna Merlan has written a captivating book that illuminates the landscape of conspiracy theories.' New York Magazine

'An entertaining taxonomy of toxic ideas' Herald

'A rock-steady narrator with a ready command of history, nerves of steel, and incisive social insights . . . We need a thousand of her, or a million.' The Nation Anna Merlan reveals that the conspiracy theorists we all once felt a little sorry for (if annoyed by) have become the masters of the universe, lodged in the White House and presidential palaces throughout the world. It's a rich insight that makes this something more than a good book - it makes it a necessary book. -- David Aaronovitch, author of VOODOO HISTORIES [An] engrossing assessment of the profitable mainstreaming of conspiracy mongering in civic and political life . . . Captures this unsettling narrative succinctly and concretely . . . A lucid, well-researched look at a slippery topic. * Kirkus Reviews * To understand America you need to understand conspiracy theories . . . Merlan's exploration into the subject discovers some timely and troubling questions. * Evening Standard * If you're seeking a fascinating perspective on current political era, look no further than Anna Merlan's Republic of Lies. Merlan investigates some of the most popular (and wild) conspiracy theories today, and more importantly establishes why current societal dynamics create fertile ground for conspiracy. * Refinery29 * The world of modern conspiracy theories is dizzying, but through exhaustive research, personal interviews, and a critical yet at times appropriately empathetic approach, writer Anna Merlan has written a captivating book that illuminates the landscape of conspiracy theories and what they might say about society as a whole. * New York Magazine *

Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power