Architects of Fear

Who runs the world? Most of us wonder that at times. Is there a mysterious “They,” a group of secret conspirators who manipulate world events? Almost as soon as we ask the question, we dismiss it as absurd. We are taught to believe that the world works in more complex and subtle ways.
This book is about a large number of people who reject this view. They have taken to an extreme the desire to find connections between events, to find an undisputable cause for every effect. They have a deep-seated suspicion that someone is responsible for the world’s problems: Communists, Jews, Catholics, bankers, intellectuals, secular humanists—or, simply, Satan. To rationalize their fear and hatred they build elaborate systems – parodies of reason – straining to explain all of the world’s troubles as part of a conspiracy.
The purpose of this book is to demystify. At the root of even the strangest fantasy there may lie isolated seeds of truth. By understanding how they can be rearranged, reinterpreted, and configured into weapons against perceived enemies, perhaps we can learn the dangers of seeing the world through what William Blake called “mind-forged manacles.”
Winner of the 1984 Special Achievement in Nonfiction Award from the PEN Los Angeles Center, Architects of Fear developed something of a cult following and for awhile was becoming scarce. There was only a single printing, in hardcover, of which about 3,000 copies were sold or distributed to reviewers. The remaining stock was destroyed by the publisher. There never was a paperback edition.
Amid the resurgence of political paranoia, this second edition, released in 2020, includes a new preface by the author and footnotes updating the text.
"Splendid and indispensable . . . comprehensive and up-to-date, endlessly interesting; were its subject not so appalling it would be sheer entertainment, a titillating glimpse into yahooland." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Admirably level-headed . . . 'Architects of Fear' is both a useful political reference and a ripping good read." -- Coevolution Quarterly
"A useful companion volume to Richard Hofstadter's 'The Paranoid Style in American Politics.' Easy to read and well researched, this book will be of interest to anyone looking for information about the radical right, the John Birch Society, the political theories of fundamentalist, right-wing religious groups, the theory of the Illuminati, right-wing perspectives on modern society, and the paranoid perspective in politics . . . A valuable contribution on the unique history of U.S. politics and fringe groups." -- Choice
"A riveting survey of the philosophical underpinnings of the Far Right in the U.S. and its roots in Europe . . . Johnson shows that throughout the centuries, the Right has been ever ready to do battle with rationalism, humanism and cosmopolitanism." -- Publisher's Weekly
"Fascinating reading in a well-written book" -- National Catholic News Service