Books by Norman Cohn
“Norman Cohn was by training a medieval historian rather than a modern historian, but he served in World War II and after the War he was prompted to ask himself how Germany, this advanced, apparently civilized modern nation had degenerated into this incredible barbarism and had perpetrated this mass genocide, the Holocaust. And the answer he came up with is that what enabled this atrocity was conspiracy theory. It was the myth of Jewish control of the world, which was believed in by the Nazis. Cohn focuses on this document, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which was the central document of anti-Semitic literature.” Read more...
The Pursuit of the Millennium
by Norman Cohn
John Gray says: I first read Norman Cohn back in the sixties. It stayed with me and had a profound effect on me, and emerged in my own work
Ian McEwan says: This is an historical account of the millenarian sects that swept across Europe from the 11th to 15th centuries: sects that were driven by certainties of the world coming to an end. Clearly, it has relevance for our times.
Interviews where books by Norman Cohn were recommended
Ian McEwan on the Books That Shaped His Novels
Novelist Ian McEwan talks about five of the books that have helped shape his own, from the biography of a scientific genius to a treatise on the end of time, and discusses the importance of finding “mental freedom”
Critiques of Utopia and Apocalypse, recommended by John Gray
Is it inevitable that the desire to build a perfect world should end in disaster? John Gray considers the flaws in utopian thinking and the essential nature of humans. He recommends the best critiques of utopia and apocalypse.
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1
Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
by Vincent Bugliosi -
2
False Witness: The Real Story of Jim Garrison's Investigation and Oliver Stone's Film JFK
by Patricia Lambert -
3
The Killing of Robert F. Kennedy: An Investigation of Motive, Means, and Opportunity
by Dan E. Moldea -
4
Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People
by Tim Reiterman -
5
Warrant for Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World Conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
by Norman Cohn
Five Books on Conspiracy Theories, recommended by David Free
Five Books on Conspiracy Theories, recommended by David Free
Conspiracy theories are not just harmless speculation but a dangerous form of belief that can have terrible consequences in the real world, says writer and critic David Free, creator of the Ghosts of Dallas podcast. He recommends books to understand conspiracy theories, from the assassination of JFK to the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion.’
