Illuminati

How did a short-lived eighteenth-century secret society become one of the most durable conspiracy theories in the modern world?In this vivid and richly peopled narrative history, celebrated historian Michael Taylor introduces readers to the real Order of the Illuminati, founded in 1776 and dedicated to the radical principles of free thought and religious tolerance. Composed of intellectuals, politicians, and military officers, the Illuminati really did seek to infiltrate and overthrow the existing world order but collapsed within a decade. Taylor shows how, despite its early demise, the Illuminati lived on in the public imagination: first blamed for the French Revolution, the fall of the Russian Empire, and then the rise of the New World Order.The first book of its kind, Illuminati reveals the untold history of this legendary secret society and the conspiracy theory that has shaped Western political paranoia for more than 250 years.