Conspiracies of conspiracies : how delusions have overrun America / Thomas Milan Konda.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction. Conspiracy theories and conspiracism -- The invention of conspiracy theory: the French Revolution and the Bavarian Illuminati -- Conspiracism takes shape in the United States -- Preconditions for modern conspiracism: Jewish assimilation, premillennialism, and Aryan occultism -- The international Jewish conspiracy and the secret government -- The emergence of the hidden hand -- The rise and fall of the hidden hand -- From neo-Nazi to white supremacist conspiracism -- The emergence of the new world order -- The conspiracy of personal destruction -- The planners take over -- Pan-ideological conspiracy theories: denialism and cover-up -- Conspiracism proliferates: some anomalies -- Christian identity and the white race -- The government conspiracy against "us" -- Conspiracism rebounds: truthers, birthers, and the new militias -- Conspiracism enters the mainstream -- The attack on science -- Democracy and civil society.

Konda traces the America's obsession with conspiratorial thought from the early days of the Republic up to our own anxious moment.