ABSTRACT

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.

chapter 1|20 pages

A fake conquers the world

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

chapter 2|18 pages

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in court

The Bern trials 1933−1937

chapter 3|24 pages

On the early history of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

The lost copy of the Lenin Library

chapter 4|12 pages

The American connection

Leslie Fry and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

chapter 5|16 pages

“The Antichrist as an imminent political possibility”

Sergei Nilus and the apocalyptical reading of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

chapter 6|20 pages

The Third Rome against the Third Temple

Apocalypticism and conspiracism in post-Soviet Russia