Very interesting read, explaining what a deep state really is and how easily a country can slip into one. The many groups who through selective means aim to influence and gaslight another group or general population with their end goal to seek power and money. from under everyones nose. Fascinating to see the social media and mainstream media influence and involvement in global fraud and election rigging. Well researched and real up to date accounts and conspiracy theories of main players in global crime and political power. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

Taking a broad definition of "deep state" – essentially, vested interests that have subverted democratic conventions to their own ends – Fitzgerald then details examples of its actions across the world from antiquity to the present day. It's a dispiriting but educational read. The main problem is a lack of synthesis, a "so what?". We're told a lot about how democracies have failed or been corrupted but not given any sense of what it means, what it tells us, or perhaps even what we should do about it. The last section, about the emergence of digital deep states, comes closest to offering some insight, but it's limited. The book feels more like a resource text than an argument.