My thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for an advance copy of this book that looks at the history of a joke, a parody of American political thinking, one that seemed so real, so authentic that it has become the basis of paranoid thought and conspiracies ever since.

America is a country that loves its fiction. Land of the free home of the brave. Where a man can pull himself up by his bootstraps and make something of himself, as long as they are white, women and minorities need not apply. The history that we are taught is based on myth, cherry trees, war of northern aggression, and what ever the Department of Education working with Texas Schoolbook developers will be making now. We not only print the legend, we belief the legend. Even though we can trace this legends down, and call shenanigans on them. One of the biggest myths started with that most American of reasons, to make money. This myth was so banal, so governmental, even with some obvious parody, that the myth became the history for a lot of people. Leading to militia groups, children being bombed and criminals getting into office. This book looks at how we got to here. Ghosts of Iron Mountain: The Hoax of the Century, Its Enduring Impact, and What It Reveals About America Today by journalist and author Phil Tinline, is a look at the origin of a book, used to keep a magazine afloat, that has become something much bigger and darker, a ghost that still haunts us today.

The mid-60's was a far darker period in American history than most people today realize. The myth of American exceptionalism was being torn away. A president had been killed, a war was on that no one seemed to think was being handled well. Some wanted it ended, some wanted to use nukes. Protesters were being beaten in the streets, police were militarized like troops in third world countries. The word credibility gap was used to describe what was being told by the government to the American people. In the midst of this a group of satirists working on a magazine called the Monocle, found themselves needing money. They had packaged book ideas, humor and other parodies, before, and a book might get them the cash, or in the parlance of the times bread, to keep things going. Leonard Lewin was a writer near the end of his dream, thinking of leaving the city and going back home. Approached Lewin was at first wary, than found it hard to create something. Soon an idea was hashed out, and a document, supposedly a leak from the government about an unknown committee was created. This committee discussed the idea that war was good for the economy, and peace was not. Without a state of permanent war, the American way of life would be threatened. Released by Dial Press this book, Report from Iron Mountain, soon took on a life of its own, no matter how many people, including well known people, decried it for the parody it was. A parody that fit the doomset of many American minds, and became the basis for their war against what the American dream was becoming.

I first read the book Report from Iron Mountain, years ago, found in a book store in the history section. I was confused as it said clearly on the front it was a parody, but at the time I was reading a lot of different conspiracy books for a college paper, and thought well that is what they want you to think. The book seems like a real report, with an interview from the whistleblower that seems real, and a report that reads like government work. Except for a lot ow odd comments. I love the fact that the Johnson administration had no idea if this was real report, as Tinline writes. This is a really interesting book, loaded with information about the era, the book was written, and how paranoid and doomsday thought was always been with us. Tinline covers the creation, the reception of the book, the people who developed and help write it and the strange afterlife the book has had, quoted as gospel by militia groups and fringe thinkers for almost 50 years. Tinline has done an incredible amount of research, and write quite well, balancing both the jokers, the politicians, and the extremists quite well.

If one wants to understand America one can start here, and get a very good grasp of how the American mind can be so easily confused, and even more fused with anything that adds to their worldview that someone, somewhere is plotting to keep them down, or under control. Even if it was a bunch of ivy league kids looking for a quick cash infusion. A book that makes one think, and wonder about the fate of our country.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for a free eARC of this!

In 1966 a group of satirists came to with the idea to write a report about a study-group they met in the nuclear bunker in Iron Mountain. This study-group went over what would be the “cost of peace”. Leonard Lewis authors the fake report and publishes it. It’s a hoax. The problem is, a lot of people think it’s legit, and it spawns LOTS of conspiracies, and major events that have impact on our country.

This was a good read. I find the Cold War to be such a fascinating era of our country. This was very well written, and well researched.

I received a free copy of, Ghosts of Iron Mountain, by Phil Tinline, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. In the 1960's when the US was in enough turmoil with the Vietnam war, a man decides to lie about the government. There are people out there who will believe anything, and there are people out there who will do anything, for attention. I did not like the premise of this book, but it was well written.

This was a fantastic true crime nonfiction book, it does a great job in bringing the hoax to life. It had that researched element that I was looking for and enjoyed the feel of this book. Phil Tinline has a strong writing style and was glad I read this.