Read: Cults, Conspiracies, & Secret Societies by Arthur Goldwag

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Having had a lifelong fascination with esotericism, end time prophecy, and a general interest in all things creepy and mysterious-- naturally, when I saw this book I had to pick it up.
On the weekends I work at a Fire Department in my hometown as a dispatcher. Being that fires are thankfully a rare occurence, suffice it to say there is plenty of downtime at my weekend workplace. Our favorite pastime? Discuss and debate matters of conspiracy, and unexplained phenomena, of course. I generally am a skeptic--my interest is more in how exactly in the hell we as humans came up with such incredulous ideas about our existence, and why we feel there is some sort of underlying meaning to it all. My colleagues however, are a bit more convinced than I am. My friend Jeb* for example believes that a race of giants known as Nephilum once walked the earth and that their colossal fossil remains were unearthed in India a few summers back. My other friend Mitch* has a fascination with the Masonic lodge, and believes that the middle age men who wear aprons to funerals and organize charity golf tournaments are a front for a sinister occultic regime, that worships Satan with an eye toward establishing a New World Order.
In his book, Goldwag sets up his text as a reference, but this is not simply an encyclopedia britannica of arcane boys clubs, and charasmatic nut-job led cults. Instead, Goldwag has done his research and with each entry, just as the subtitle of his book says, gives the straight scoop on Freemasons, The Illuminati, Skull & Bones, Black Helicopters, The New World Order, and many, many more. Goldwag leaves very few stones unturned and gives interesting account after interesting account of how so many cults, secret societies, and conspiracies came to be--and shows quite deftly how all are interrelated. Goldwag also gives us insight into the conspiratorial mind, and why some folks take a truth and spin it into something its not to perpetuate a conspiracy. For example, if my buddy Mitch* were to read the section on Freemasonry, he would find that he is probably partially right about the group. Yes, there is run-of-the-mill everyday lodge masonry, and then there is speculative higher-level masonry that is often the inspiration for conspiracy theorists sometimes far-fetched notions. Are either a front for a Satanic brotherhood? Highly unlikely-but ultimately most of us will never know, but after reading this excellent reference I can bring more legitimate insight to those most interesting conversations.

*Names have been changed so as not to have the sanity of my friends brought to question.