Rating: 
Summary: Alternative History
Review: This is the best compendium I have read to date of a grand assortment of sacrosanct subjects that I have been interested in for the last fifty plus years. It is by no means definitive on any aspect of secret societies, but Marr cannot be expected to know all the (by definition) secrets. Some of the material is fully verifiable and some is highly speculative. Subjects range from Freemasonic machinations to antedilulivial sortees, a la Zekeriah Sitchin. A tremendous rendition of material not taught in high school or college, guaranteed to alter ones historical perspectives.
Rating: 
Summary: If you want to know the truth, read the tabloids!
Review: Some of Marrs'ideas may seem far fetched, especially those raised towards the end of the book, but overall he does make a few very good points.If you are prone to take novel ideas and accept them as facts, approach this book cautiously! However, if you have always wondered if there is more to the publically accepted versions of the truth, this book is a good place to start challenging your existing ideas.
Rating:
Summary: A good Conspiracy Theory Compilation
Review: This book is a very nice compilation of facts, theories, and suggestions about a wide array of conspiracy topics. However, if you are fairly deep into researching this material, this book proves very repetitive, because most of the author's and book's he quotes and references I have read in my personal collection. THe author, Marrs, doesn't really inject many of his own ideas or knowledge. I was skeptical about buying this book because his "Alien Agenda" book was horrible in my opinion. This is much better, and very exciting, especially if you are a fan of Knights Templar, Illuminati, Egyptian connections.
Rating:
Summary: A HISTORY OF CONSPIRICIES
Review: First of all, a very entertaining and engrossing book that really makes you think "hmmmmm"? The strongest arguments come from his linking the Council on Forgein Relations and the Trilateral Commissions with 20th century mischief. I think this absolutely true. To form your own opinion, look at the names that he lists as members in the CFR, their role in history, and then the interconnected relationships. With a reasonable background in history or international relations, you can see that there is concerted effort by a group of very powerful men and women in the shadows pulling the strings of politics and economics. As the book traces back in time, I think the evidence becomes less and less believable. But at the same time more and more fabulous. The author frequently cites the research of a handful of other secondary works, and, in this regard, the book begins to lose some credibility. The last couple of chapters have truely fantastic assertions about the role of space aliens colonizing earth backed up with a few strategic bits of ancient history. In all honesty, this is where I couldn't put the book down it was so interesting. Interesting, but incredible.
Rating: 
Summary: X-files lives
Review: I've given this book three stars. It is an extremely entertaining book and if your looking for entertainment, this is 5 stars. Now, is this book to be seen as fiction or non-fiction? A defense for many conspiracy authors is that they haven't been sued for libel. Is this credebility? The chapters about secret societies and money are interesting. In modern society, people pay high interest rates and savings accounts give very little interest. Also, there seems to be little difference between Democrats and Republicans from where I stand. Theories about a NWO do make some sense. The chapter on the Federal Reserve System is interesting and deserves to be a whole book. Later in the book, he brings in the alien theories with ancient Sumer. He also talks about the bible as a code book. Well even if the bible is a code book, isn't it a translation of a translation? Surely some of the codes would be altered. A fun read but I don't know how well it holds up to careful scrutiny.
Rating:
Summary: Rule By Secrecy
Review: This book hit the nail on the head !! Knock, Knock . . . Take a look around you with your mind wide open, it makes everything fall into place. The book may be a bit mind boggeling but read it once and then the second time ...... wallah ! The direction our world is going, don't it all make sense ! Check out the web site wingmakers.com ..... with mind wide open it will really make you think. I give Jim Marrs, 5 big bright gold stars!
Rating:
Summary: All the names, dates and facts are overwhelming.
Review: I give this book 4 stars because I found the first 2 parts cumbersome to read. As the book went back in history I found it got more and more interesting. I was disappointed that there was no bibliography. There was however a source list to back up facts and information.
All in all the book gives a good overview of the "Big Picture". What you choose to belive and what you choose to ignore is an individual choice.
Rating:
Summary: Good with a grain of salt
Review: Like any "conspiricy" literature, Marrs has his bias just like any other writer on the topic. He believes that this conspiricy exists. However amidst some unsubstantiated and fairly inflamitory verbage, are a lot of fascinating facts. At the very least, this book is engaging, entertaining, and a great jumping off point for people who want to delve deeper into this on their own. As other reviews mention, he is chock full of names, titles, facts and figures and he has a surprising number of footnotes to his claims. A couple of observations before you get too terribly sucked into his narritive. 1) His sources are mostly other conspiricy theorists. Primary source material is mentioned (i.e. Washington's letters, Wilson's statements,) but then a look at the footnote reveals a Secondary source writing on conspiricies. Why not go to the original if it really exists and quote that? 2) Marrs does a great job of presenting his side of the arguement and he presents material not addressed in high school history texts (although many people have at least heard rumours about some of these "scandals".) However, my own research suggests that things had to be ommitted because they didn't fall neatly into place. 3)If the secret societies really are controlling all of the information that gets to us, how did this ever get published? The all powerful must not consider it a threat. Good reading though.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Book about a very long standing debate
Review: Jim Marrs admits at the outset that all information ("data") he has presented is presented for consideration only and that as with any research all data must be considered lest we become prejudiced investigators. Thus, one cannot hold him too accountable for presenting a different viewpoint, even radically different. I have researched and found numerous parallels between many cultures, examples such as Creation, Flood, etc. narratives which were parallel across cultures separted by great distances. One can only speculate how this occurred. Personally, I beleive the explanation is that narratives were carried worldwide after the dispersal of languages following the Tower of Babel events. Mr. Marrs has provided one interpretation of the events of the Pre-Flood era. There are others. He has also provided a contrast between the traditional Christian view of the Life, Death and Divinity of Jesus and the non-traditional view held by many Cathars, Merovingians, Freemasons, Rosicrusians, Priory of Sionists, etc. As Arnold Toynbee said in his famous 1956 Gifford Lecture entitled An Historians View of Religion, "Religions cannot be propagated by force. There is no such thing as a belief that is not held voluntarily. All the life and power of true religion consist in the inward and full persuasion of the mind; and faith is not faith without believing . . . . And such is the nature of the understanding, that is cannot be compelled to the belief of anything by outward force . . . . Nobody is born a member of any church . . . . But everyone joins himself voluntarily to that society in which he believes he has found that profession and worship which is truly acceptable to God. No religion that I believe not to be true, can be either true or profitable to me. To believe this or that, to be true, does not depend upon our will." Hence, one has to decide for himself whether he or she will believe "this" or "that". That is the essence of belief and faith. This debate has been going on since the debate between St. Paul and the Jerusalem Church and I suspect it will continue.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Book about a very long standing debate
Review: Jim Marrs admits at the outset that all information ("data") he has presented is presented for consideration only and that as with any reserach all data must be considered lest we become prejudiced investigators. Thus, one cannot hold him too accountable for presenting a different viewpoint, even radically different. I have researched and found numerous parallels between many cultures, examples such as Creation, Flood, etc. narratives which were parallel across cultures separted by great distances. One can only speculate how this occurred. Personally, I beleive the explanation is that narratives were carried worldwide after the dispersal of languages following the Tower of Babel events. Mr. Marrs has provided one interpretation of the events of the Pre-Flood era. There are others. He has also provided a contrast between the traditional Christian view of the Life, Death and Divinity of Jesus and the non-traditional view held by many Cathars, Merovingians, Freemasons, Rosicrusians, Priory of Sionists, etc. As Arnold Toynbee said in his famous 1956 Gifford Lecture entitled An Historians View of Religion, "Religions cannot be propagated by force. There is no such thing as a belief that is not held voluntarily. All the life and power of true religion consist in the inward and full persuasion of the mind; and faith is not faith without believing . . . . And such is the nature of the understanding, that is cannot be compelled to the belief of anything by outward force . . . . Nobody is born a member of any church . . . . But everyone joins himself voluntarily to that society in which he believes he has found that profession and worship which is truly acceptable to God. No religion that I believe not to be true, can be either true or profitable to me. To believe this or that, to be true, does not depend upon our will." Hence, one has to decide for himself whether he or she will believe "this" or "that". That is the essence of belief and faith. This debate has been going on since the debate between St. Paul and the Jerusalem Church and I suspect it will continue.
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