Why read Them?

Book cover of Them: Adventures with Extremists

Book description

A wide variety of extremist groups -- Islamic fundamentalists, neo-Nazis -- share the oddly similar belief that a tiny shadowy elite rule the world from a secret room. In Them, journalist Jon Ronson has joined the extremists to track down the fabled secret room.

As a journalist and a Jew,…

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Topics

Ku Klux Klan

Genres

Political

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Why read it?

1 author picked Them as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Elizabeth Greenwood

Author

I always describe this as “the book I wish I’d written,” and was completely formative in defining the kind of nonfiction writing I do. Ronson hangs out with conspiracy-minded groups who on the outset would likely hate each other (neo-Nazis and Jihadists, for example) but all believe the same thing: a cabal of powerful people run the world. It shows that Qanon and its ilk are nothing new, and somehow Ronson walks the line of being with repugnant people yet also reveling in their inherent ridiculousness.

From Elizabeth's list on The best true crime-adjacent books.