From Publishers Weekly
In this unconvincing potboiler, Marrs, who charged that conspiracies were behind the JFK assassination (Crossfire) and government cover-ups of the UFO phenomenon (Alien Agenda), now offers a sweeping view of world history through the warped prism of conspiracy theory. The world's richest and most powerful individuals, he opines, wield excessive influence over governments and news media through their control of multinational corporations and organizations he refers to as "secret societies," such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the international Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg group (which holds annual closed-door conferences around the globe). The aim of these "secret societies," suggests Marrs, is one-world government and centralized social control, and in this respect, he adds, all these groups and their offshoots carry the imprint of older secret brotherhoods, including Freemasonry and the Illuminati. Conspiracy buffs will have a field day wading through this morass, but other readers will remain unpersuaded by a tract that proceeds by way of innuendo, quotation of other conspiracy researchers' extremist opinions and unsubstantiated statement. Marrs squeezes into his procrustean framework the origins of WWI and WWII, Nazis' occult dabblings, the Russian Revolution, the Morgan and Rothschild banking dynasties and the Knights Templar, and he uncritically entertains a host of maverick theories. His conspiracy trail winds up back in Mesopotamia, as he plies territory mined by Zecharia Sitchin, who believes that extraterrestrials founded the earth's earliest civilizations. Ultimately, this mishmash lacks the semblance of plausibility that helped make Alien Agenda a bestseller. (Apr.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
In this astonishing book, celebrated reporter and New York Times -; bestselling author Jim Marrs painstakingly explores the world's most closely guarded secrets, exposing clandestine cabals and the power they have wielded throughout time.  Defiantly rooting out the truth, he unearths starting evidence that the real movers and shakers covertly collude to start and stop wars, manipulate stock markets and interest rates, maintain class distinctions, and even censor the six o'clock news.  And they do all this under the mindful auspices of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderbergers, the CIA, and even the Vatican.Drawing on historical evidence and his own impeccable research, Mars carefully traces the mysteries that connect these modern-day conspiracies to humankind's prehistory.  The eye-opening result is an extraordinary synthesis of historical information -; much of it long hidden from the public -; that sheds light on the people and organizations that rule our lives.Disturbing, provocative, and utterly compelling, Rule by Secrecy offers a singular worldview that may explain who we are, where we came from, and where we are going.


Book Info
Examines the history of secret societies and the power they have wielded, from the ancient mysteries to modern-day conspiracy theories. The author uncovers evidence that the real movers and shakers of the world collude to control the fiscal and political architecture of society.


About the Author
Jim Marrs is a celebrated journalist and the author of Alien Agenda and the New York Times bestseller Crossfire. He lives in Texas.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In this astonishing book, celebrated reporter and New York Times — bestselling author Jim Marrs painstakingly explores the world's most closely guarded secrets, exposing clandestine cabals and the power they have wielded throughout time.￯﾿ﾽ Defiantly rooting out the truth, he unearths starting evidence that the real movers and shakers covertly collude to start and stop wars, manipulate stock markets and interest rates, maintain class distinctions, and even censor the six o'clock news.￯﾿ﾽ And they do all this under the mindful auspices of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderbergers, the CIA, and even the Vatican.

Drawing on historical evidence and his own impeccable research, Mars carefully traces the mysteries that connect these modern-day conspiracies to humankind's prehistory.￯﾿ﾽ The eye-opening result is an extraordinary synthesis of historical information — much of it long hidden from the public￯﾿ﾽ— that sheds light on the people and organizations that rule our lives.