"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is almost certainly fiction, but its impact was not. Originating in Russia, it landed in the English-speaking world where it caused great consternation. Much is made of German anti-semitism, but there was fertile soil for "The Protocols" across Europe and even in America, thanks to Henry Ford and others.

This text re-examines 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion's' popularity, investigating why it has persisted, as well as larger questions about the success of conspiracy theories even in the face of claims that they are blatantly counterfactual and irrational.

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The Protocols of the Elders of Zion has attracted the interest of politicians and academicians, and generated extensive research, since the tract first appeared in the early twentieth century. Despite having repeatedly been discredited as a historical document, and in spite of the fact that it served as an inspiration for Hitler’s antisemitism and the Holocaust, it continues, even in our time, to be influential. Exploring the Protocols’ successful dissemination and impact around the world, this volume attempts to understand their continuing popularity, one hundred years after their first appearance, in so many diverse societies and cultures. With contributions from leading scholars in the field, the book covers themes such as: Why have the Protocols survived to the present day and what are the sources from which they draw their strength? What significance do the Protocols have today in mainstream worldviews? Are they gaining in importance? Are they still today a warrant for genocide or merely a reflection of xenophobic nationalism? Can they be fought by logical argumentation? This comprehensive volume which, for the first time, dwells also on the attraction of the Protocols in Arab and Muslim countries, will be of interest to specialists, teachers, and students working in the fields of antisemitism, the far right, Jewish studies, and modern history.

A strange and repugnant mystery of the twentieth century is the durability of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a clumsy forgery purporting to be evidence of the supposed Jewish plot to rule the world. Though it has been exposed as a forgery, some apprentice brownshirt is always rediscovering it, the latest in a line of gullibility that includes, most famously, Henry Ford. Recently it has been translated into Japanese and circulates once again with renewed virulence in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In 1924 in Germany the Jewish author and journalist Binjamin Segel wrote a major historical exposé of the fraud and later edited his work into a shorter form, published as Welt-Krieg, Welt-Revolution, Welf-Verschwörung, Welt-Oberregierung (Berlin 1926). Translator Richard S. Levy, a specialist on the history of anti-semitism, provides an extensive introduction on the circumstances of Segel's work and the story of the Protocols up to the 1990s, including an explanation of its continuing psychological appeal and political function.

Joly's (1831-78) Dialogue aux enfers entre Machiavel et Montesquieu is the major source of one of the world's most infamous and damaging forgeries, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. That, however, was concocted some two decades after he died, and American political scientist Waggoner points to Joly's own text for evidence that he was not anti-semitic and was an intransigent enemy of the kind of tyranny the forgery served during the 1930s. He translates the text and discusses Joly's intentions in writing it and his contribution to the understanding of modern politics. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

The Perennial Conspiracy Theory is a collection of essays on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fake document which has created a pernicious antisemitic conspiracy theory. The author analyses the murky origins of this notorious forgery and the contested claims of authorship. He explores the impact of the Protocols on various countries during the interwar years including Soviet Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Nazi Germany, and the United States. He also profiles figures closely associated with the dissemination of antisemitic conspiracy theories, such as Sergei Nilus and Leslie Fry, as well as examining the controversies arising from the famous Bern trial related to the Protocols. The book concludes with an assessment of the ongoing influence of the Protocols in post-Soviet Russia. This volume will be of interest to researchers and students working in the fields of antisemitism, conspiracy theories, the far right, Jewish studies, and modern history.