Showing results for "Propaganda" in History

In today’s chaotic world, where the multiplication of information sources creates competing narratives, credibility is the key to winning the war of ideas. This is the reason why governments and corporations resort to astroturfing - creation of ostensibly grassroots movements set up to advance political agendas and commercial campaigns. The democratization of information and polarization of politics offer a perfect storm.

We live in a world of influence operations run amok, a world of dark ads, psy-ops, hacks, bots, soft facts, ISIS, Putin, trolls, Trump. We've lost not only our sense of peace and democracy - but our sense of what those words even mean. As Peter Pomerantsev seeks to make sense of the disinformation age, he meets Twitter revolutionaries and pop-up populists, 'behavioural change' salesmen, Jihadi fan-boys, Identitarians, truth cops and much more.

For generations, the Old Testament has shaped Western culture—etched into our laws, language, and morality. But what if we've misunderstood it all along? Beneath the familiar tales of creation and commandments lies a far more unsettling truth: these texts weren't written to enlighten, but to persuade. Crafted by priests and kings, they served as political tools to assert power, justify violence, and shape collective memory.

Until recently, propaganda was a top-down, elite-only system of communication control used largely by state actors. Today, as Samuel Woolley argues, social media has democratized propaganda, allowing nearly anyone to launch a fairly sophisticated, computationally enhanced, propaganda campaign. Woolley shows how social media, with its anonymity and capacity for automation, allows political groups to create the illusion of popularity through computational tools.

This is the incredible untold story of four women who helped win World War II by generating a wave of black propaganda. Betty MacDonald was a 28-year-old reporter from Hawaii. Zuzka Lauwers grew up in a tiny Czechoslovakian village and knew five languages by the time she was 21. Jane...

My Life in Propaganda is Magda Stroińska’s personal account of growing up with communist propaganda in Eastern Europe. She compares the beliefs of her family with what she was taught at school, learning early on about double interpretations and ambiguities through language. Through her chosen field of linguistics, she analyzes ways in which propagandistic language, such as ‘doubletalk,’ Orwellian ‘Newspeak,’ ‘weasel words,’ and, more colloquially, ‘bullshit,’ is used to distort reality. The book demonstrates that democracy can never be taken for granted.

When you see your nation's flag fluttering in the breeze, what do you feel? For thousands of years flags have represented our hopes and dreams. We wave them. Burn them. March under their colours. And still, in the 21st century, we die for them. Flags fly at the UN, on the Arab street, from front porches in Texas. They represent the politics of high power as well as the politics of the mob.

Brought to you by Penguin. The runaway #1 New York Times bestseller As Hitler's ascendancy began to make a Second World War inevitable, a clandestine network flooded the United States with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of its war effort and persuading Americans that their natural...

Pomerantsev is emerging as the pre-eminent war reporter of our time. Observer From one of our leading experts on disinformation, the incredible true story of the complex and largely forgotten WWII propagandist Sefton Delmer - and what we can learn from him today. In the summer of 1941, Hitler...

At the beginning of the Second World War, a team of unlikely and ill-assorted characters assembled in their secret country headquarters. They had left their civilian roles as politicians, journalists, novelists and spies, advertisers, artists and even forgers, to work for a covert government organisation preparing to broadcast British propaganda into occupied territory. These men and women would become the Political Warfare Executive.

Uncover the history of mass persuasion and master the psychology needed to survive digital disinformation. Whether commuting to work or endlessly scrolling your social feeds, this thought-provoking journey exposes the invisible forces shaping your beliefs. See how rulers, revolutionaries, and...

'A masterclass in the history of Nazi Germany, with an internationally renowned expert as the teacher' GET HISTORY. On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed the German Chancellor of a coalition government by President Hindenburg. Within a few months he had installed a dictatorship, jailing...

A recognized classic and definitive account of its subject, The Origins of Totalitarianism traces the emergence of modern racism as an "ideological weapon for imperialism," begining with the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe in the nineteenth century and continuing through the New Imperialism...

Joel and Lynn Rosenbergexpose and explain today’s ever-growing firestorm: the vicious, relentless, well-funded disinformation campaigns against Israel and her Jewish and Christian supporters. This book will help you respond to the many criticisms leveled against Israel with clear, accurate...

Brought to you by Penguin. A masterclass in telling stories - and how they shape our world - from the internationally renowned narrative expert To command narrative is to control a sometimes frightening power. What is it that turbocharges some tales, and how is it possible to harness that...

Bloomsbury presents The Descent: Witnessing Russia's Spiral into Madness Under Putin, written and read by Marc Bennetts An extraordinary first-hand account of Russia’s descent into totalitarianism, paranoia and madness. Marc Bennetts, foreign correspondent for The Times and The Sunday Times...

An explosive inside look into the highly-planned and well-funded global propaganda campaign to delegitimize Israel and sow the seeds of antisemitism in the aftermath of October 7th. October 7th, 2023 was a truly horrific day—a day in which Israeli men, women, and children were slaughtered or...

PsyWar is when a government coordinates and directs deployment of propaganda, censorship, and psychological operations (psyops) tools in campaigns designed to manipulate public opinion. PsyWar: Enforcing the New World Order exposes the history and tactics of modern psychological warfare on the American people and offers a way forward for citizens to resist totalitarian control.

A major reassessment of the British government's communication of the goals of the Second World War, and how its propaganda undermined the people's faith in the reliability of war news and the credibility of political leaders. While waging war against enemies overseas, governments also need to...

Explores the occult influences on various Nazi figures, including Adolf Hitler, Albert Speer, Rudolf Hess, Alfred Rosenberg, and Heinrich Himmler Examines the foundations of the movement laid in the 19th century and continuing in the early 20th century Explains the rites and runology...