Ghosts of Iron Mountain: The Hoax that Duped America and its Sinister Legacy

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

How did America end up trapped in a nightmare of conspiracy theories, in which millions see the government as an evil deep state It didn't begin with Donald Trump, and it wont end with him.

In Ghosts of Iron Mountain, Phil Tinline traces the roots of todays fears back to the years after the Second World War, when America was the most powerful nation the world had ever known. He tells, in vivid, entertaining and brilliant detail, the story of a literary hoax that shocked a nation. Its impact and its astonishing afterlife reveal Americas fears as youve never seen them before.

In 1967, at the height of the war in Vietnam, a group of New York writers cooked up a satirical response to the Dr Strangelove-like thinking prevalent in Washington. They concocted what appeared to be a top-secret government report into what would happen to the USA if permanent global peace broke out.

Report from Iron Mountain claimed that winding down Americas vast war-making machinery would wreck the economy and tear society apart, necessitating draconian controls over the population. It was published as non-fiction and was frighteningly convincing. Journalists tried to find out who had written it. Worried memos reached right up to the president. It became a bestselling cause celebre.

Even when the hoax was revealed, many refused to believe it wasnt real. Denial became proof of truth. The Report was seized on by eager figures on the far right and in the militia movement, who insisted that it revealed terrifying government conspiracies to pollute the environment, enslave Americans and even instigate eugenics. It helped to shape the movie that has done more than any other to revive conspiracy theory: Oliver Stones JFK. And it spawned a second hoax, which has helped sustain its bizarre relevance right up to today.

Ghosts of Iron Mountain traces this story through a gallery of vivid characters, from the radical academic C. Wright Mills and the writers EL Doctorow, Victor Navasky and Leonard Lewin in 1960s New York, to the Hitler-loving far-right impresario Willis Carto, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, the conspiracy theorist William Cooper, L. Fletcher Prouty (the Mr X of JFK), and the ranting broadcaster Alex Jones.

This is one of the great stories of our time, and an entertaining, compulsively readable narrative that reveals how nightmares about its own government drove America crazy.

Reviews

Astonishing... an account of a brilliantly conceived spoof that has quite unintentionally changed the course of history, feeding a frenzy of conspiratorially minded narratives that have poisoned the electorate and threaten our civic discourse. The spoof would be hilarious if it were not so dangerous. * From the Foreword by Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of American Prometheus, inspiration for the film Oppenheimer *
Deeply rooted and brilliantly told... What a fascinating tale Phil Tinline unspools here. He's unearthed a strange, little-known key from the 1960s with which he unlocks America's descent into conspiracy madness and the dangerous blurring of political fiction and reality. Ghosts of Iron Mountain is unique, illuminating, and important. * Kurt Andersen, co-founder of Spy magazine and New York Times bestselling author of Fantasyland and Evil Geniuses *
Phil Tinline's startling book about the weird legacy of a brilliant anti-war hoax is not just an illuminating deep dive into offbeat history. It is an essential read for anyone trying to understand the tragicomic nature of contemporary politics. Itself both hilarious and profoundly serious, it helps us grasp how laughter has turned so deadly. * Fintan O'Toole, author of We Don't Know Ourselves *
A tremendous journalistic achievement, a rollicking page turner, and, ultimately, a public service... Tinline provides the "why" behind todays most destabilizing extremist conspiracy theories about secret governments and deep states. * Gerald Posner, author of Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK *
Spellbinding, a profound meditation on a question that America has never figured out quite how to face: can government, for, by, and of the people, ever live comfortably side by side with military empire * Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America *
A clever, fast-paced read of dazzling originality that ranges from the Kennedy assassination to QAnon. In his gripping investigation Phil Tinline shows why Americans are so vulnerable to conspiracy theories and sinister hoaxes. Ghost of Iron Mountain is powerfully relevant to our times. * William I. Hitchcock, author of The Age of Eisenhower *
A superb work of journalism, history, and political insight, a brilliant true story about a brilliant fake story. We must all give thanks to Phil Tinline for exposing this conspiracy of conspiracies, this scheme of schemes a story so good that, once you see it, you see it everywhere. * Nathan Hill, author of The Nix *
Thoughtful, provocative, unique, and smart are just a few of the adjectives that describe Phil Tinline's engrossing and highly readable Ghosts of Iron Mountain. You have to read this book to understand the roots of Trumpism in America today. Highly recommended. * Steven M. Gillon, author of 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America *
Tinline brings to life an extraordinary story of secret government manoeuvrings, deep paranoia, and some of the most brilliant satirists of 1960s America to tell us, in a way weve never heard before, about the era of JFK and Vietnam and the dark tendrils reaching out from then to now. * Rana Mitter, ST Lee Chair in U.S.-China Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School and author of Forgotten Ally: Chinas World War II, 1937-1945 *
A gripping, beautifully written, real-life historical thriller that convincingly links modern incarnations of Americas destructive conspiracy theory culture from Donald Trump to InfoWars to a fascinating but forgotten 1960s hoax. Rollercoastering from past to present, Ghosts of Iron Mountain reveals why many among us clutch at yarns about evil cabals and shadowy powerbrokers, and it finally answers the crucial question: why do so many Americans cling to the stubborn belief that if something feels real, it is real * Brian Klaas, Contributing Writer at The Atlantic and author of Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters *
Perspective shifting... Ghosts of Iron Mountain tells a story that subverts expectations of a perfectly polarized left-wing and right-wing mindset in the US. The fabricated document at this narratives centre has, since the 1960s, felt true to both sides, helping to explain why it continues to ping between satire and gospel across the political spectrum and to this day remains distressingly relevant. * Whitney Phillips, co-author of The Shadow Gospel: How Anti-Liberal Demonology Possessed US Religion, Media, and Politics *
A page turner, ripping good read... It is, in fact, a true story about us, our beliefs and fears, our political choices, and our paranoia about power. Read it and be awakened. * Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine and author of Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational *
Deeply insightful... The conspiratorial narratives that threaten society often come without warning, like a shock weather event. Or so it seems. Here, Phil Tinline reveals the actual truth that fears about colluding forces are a quite predictable reaction to the centralization of state power and abuses by those who wield it. As half-truths and simple misunderstandings work on the conspiratorial imagination, the real becomes warped. Ghosts of Iron Mountain is a masterly account of how post-World War II America succumbed to a paranoia that still has many of its citizens chasing extremes. * James Ball, author of Post-Truth: How Bullshit Conquered the World *
Pacey and engaging... Tinline retells the story of the hoax government study that declared permanent war indispensable to societal stabilityBoth the immediate response to the Report and its enduring legacy reveal the extent of Americans suspicions of and alienation from their government and help make sense of the apparent insanity of QAnon and other deep-state conspiracy theories. * Laura Beers, author of Orwells Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century *
Ghosts of Iron Mountain is a masterly account of how post-World War II America succumbed to a paranoia that still has many of its citizens chasing extremes. * James Ball, author of Post-Truth: How Bullshit Conquered the World *
Unputdownable. This superb story of a runaway hoax peels back like an onion. By the time you get to the deepest layer, everything you thought you knew about politics is transformed. I didnt intend to read Ghosts of Iron Mountain in one day, but I couldnt stop myself. * Bradley Garrett, author of Bunker: What It Takes to Survive the Apocalypse *
In Phil Tinlines hands the strange journey of a 1960s anti-war satire is the key that unlocks the much bigger story of how conspiracy theories devoured American politics. Gripping, surprising and wise. * Dorian Lynskey, author of The Ministry of Truth *

Author Bio

Phil Tinline is a freelance writer and documentary-maker. He is the author of the The Death of Consensus: 100 Years of British Political Nightmares, which was chosen as The Times Politics Book of the Year 2022. Over the course of twenty years working for the BBC, he made and presented many acclaimed documentaries about how political history shapes our lives. He has written for publications including The Times, the Daily Telegraph, Prospect, BBC History Magazine and the New Statesman. He lives in London.