100 books like Imperial Brain Trust

By Laurence H Shoup, William Minter,

Here are 100 books that Imperial Brain Trust fans have personally recommended if you like Imperial Brain Trust. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State

Daniel C. Hellinger Author Of Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories in the Age of Trump

From my list on separating conspiracy fact from fiction in American politics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a political scientist, a professor emeritus at Webster University, with scholarly publications about Latin American and U.S. politics. My interest in conspiracy theories was piqued by a reviewer who dismissed my book on the “democratic façade” of U.S. politics as a “conspiracy theory.” I took umbrage and denied being a “conspiracy theorist.” Years later, conversing with a colleague about Oliver Stone’s JFK, I dismissed his doubts about the lone gunman theory as a conspiracy theory. He asked whether I would similarly dismiss questions about official stories regarding assassinations in South Asia or Latin America. This all set me on the path to studying the role of conspiracies.

Daniel's book list on separating conspiracy fact from fiction in American politics

Daniel C. Hellinger Why did Daniel love this book?

A positive NY Times review “in brief” of this “journey through the Deep State” caught my attention and mind immediately.

Most political scientists and top-tier journalists, like Ms. Howley, want no part of any association with the “deep state,” yet here was Hawley straying from the usual tone of dismissal, disdain, or stigma about the idea.

As I started reading about Reality Winner’s harrowing experience, I first thought I had mistakenly taken it for non-fiction. In fact, Winner’s name and her experiences are all too real. If there is any paranoia in Winner’s encounter with the deep state, it is to be found in the darker world of the national security state, not Hawley or her subject.

By Kerry Howley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR A VANITY FAIR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

“Riveting and darkly funny and in all sense of the word, unclassifiable.”–The New York Times

A wild, humane, and hilarious meditation on post-privacy America—from the acclaimed author of Thrown

Who are you? You are data about data. You are a map of connections—a culmination of everything you have ever posted, searched, emailed, liked, and followed. In this groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction, Kerry Howley investigates the curious implications of living in the age of the indelible. Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs…


Book cover of The Storm Is Upon Us: How Qanon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything

Daniel C. Hellinger Author Of Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories in the Age of Trump

From my list on separating conspiracy fact from fiction in American politics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a political scientist, a professor emeritus at Webster University, with scholarly publications about Latin American and U.S. politics. My interest in conspiracy theories was piqued by a reviewer who dismissed my book on the “democratic façade” of U.S. politics as a “conspiracy theory.” I took umbrage and denied being a “conspiracy theorist.” Years later, conversing with a colleague about Oliver Stone’s JFK, I dismissed his doubts about the lone gunman theory as a conspiracy theory. He asked whether I would similarly dismiss questions about official stories regarding assassinations in South Asia or Latin America. This all set me on the path to studying the role of conspiracies.

Daniel's book list on separating conspiracy fact from fiction in American politics

Daniel C. Hellinger Why did Daniel love this book?

I found this book a most accessible, comprehensive and incisive look at QAnon, one of the most baffling mass movements to have blasted into American political culture.

For those of us who live outside the reach of these cult-like believers in a raft of fantastical conspiracy theories, what baffles us is that unlike cults, which are typically withdrawn from mainstream society, QAnon reaches into our most intimate friend and family circles.

For me, where the book shines is in tracing the early appeal, its spiraling growth via the internet, and the links to radical right populists. This book is our best guide into the heart of darkness of Trumpian America.

By Mike Rothschild,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Storm Is Upon Us as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"I hope everyone reads this book. It has become such a crucial thing for all of us to understand." —Erin Burnett, CNN

"An ideal tour guide for your journey into the depths of the rabbit hole that is QAnon. It even shows you a glimmer of light at the exit." —Cullen Hoback, director of HBO's Q: Into the Storm

Its messaging can seem cryptic, even nonsensical, yet for tens of thousands of people, it explains everything:  What is QAnon, where did it come from, and is the Capitol insurgency a sign of where it’s going next?

On October 5th, 2017,…


Book cover of The Breach: The Untold Story of the Investigation Into January 6th

Daniel C. Hellinger Author Of Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories in the Age of Trump

From my list on separating conspiracy fact from fiction in American politics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a political scientist, a professor emeritus at Webster University, with scholarly publications about Latin American and U.S. politics. My interest in conspiracy theories was piqued by a reviewer who dismissed my book on the “democratic façade” of U.S. politics as a “conspiracy theory.” I took umbrage and denied being a “conspiracy theorist.” Years later, conversing with a colleague about Oliver Stone’s JFK, I dismissed his doubts about the lone gunman theory as a conspiracy theory. He asked whether I would similarly dismiss questions about official stories regarding assassinations in South Asia or Latin America. This all set me on the path to studying the role of conspiracies.

Daniel's book list on separating conspiracy fact from fiction in American politics

Daniel C. Hellinger Why did Daniel love this book?

I’ve read the House Committee Report on the January 6 insurrection, so I doubted there was much “untold,” especially relayed by a former ultra-right House Freedom Caucus member. But Riggleman, chief technical advisor for the House Committee that investigated January 6, adds background and insight not found in the Committee Report.

As an Air Force Intelligence officer and NSA surveillance export, Riggleman is now viewed by the radical right as part of the deep state. Perhaps we need to change how we think about “deep state.” Riggleman uses his intelligence skills to pry open secrets that the Trump White House sought to conceal. 

By Denver Riggleman, Hunter Walker,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Breach as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Make no mistake: modern information warfare is here and January 6th was just the first battle. That day, an unhinged mindset led to an attack on the Capitol, the most serious assault on American democracy since the end of the Civil War. And that thinking portends even darker days ahead.

In The Breach, a former House Republican and the first member of Congress to sound the alarm about QAnon, Denver Riggleman, provides readers with an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the January 6th select committee's investigation. Riggleman, who joined the committee as senior technical advisor, lays out the full intent and…


Book cover of Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United

Daniel C. Hellinger Author Of Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories in the Age of Trump

From my list on separating conspiracy fact from fiction in American politics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a political scientist, a professor emeritus at Webster University, with scholarly publications about Latin American and U.S. politics. My interest in conspiracy theories was piqued by a reviewer who dismissed my book on the “democratic façade” of U.S. politics as a “conspiracy theory.” I took umbrage and denied being a “conspiracy theorist.” Years later, conversing with a colleague about Oliver Stone’s JFK, I dismissed his doubts about the lone gunman theory as a conspiracy theory. He asked whether I would similarly dismiss questions about official stories regarding assassinations in South Asia or Latin America. This all set me on the path to studying the role of conspiracies.

Daniel's book list on separating conspiracy fact from fiction in American politics

Daniel C. Hellinger Why did Daniel love this book?

Suppose conservative court justices objectively framed their decisions according to the original intent of the Founders. In that case, they would have more than adequate grounds to curb the influence of big money and well-heeled lobbyists in American politics.

Besides equating money to speech over the last half century, Courts have decided in major decisions since 1970 that large campaign contributions and lavish gifts from lobbyists to public officials are legal as long as there is no explicit quid pro quo.

The book’s title refers to the controversy over a snuff box given to Frankin by the King of France upon his leaving Paris. For Teachout, the cloud of scandal that enveloped Franklin is a good illustration of how the first- and (until recently) subsequent generations of Americans had a much broader understanding of the corrupting role of money and lavish gifts play in our politics.

By Zephyr Teachout,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Corruption in America as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Faces of Internationalism: Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy

Matthew A. Baum Author Of Soft News Goes to War: Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy in the New Media Age

From my list on public opinion and foreign policy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I started my career in Washington D.C., where my first job involved conducting strategy meetings with senior civilian and military policy officials regarding potential military conflicts around the world. At the time I was struck by the extent to which senior policymakers worried about whether they would be able to garner and sustain public support for U.S. overseas military operations. This concern often dominated our meetings. It ultimately set me on my course as a scholar, where much of my work has focused on trying to understand what average people think about the world, why they believe what they do, and whether and how their attitudes affect leaders’ decision-making in crisis situations.

Matthew's book list on public opinion and foreign policy

Matthew A. Baum Why did Matthew love this book?

This book is a classic in the genre. Wittkopf develops a hugely influential, yet surprisingly simple and straightforward, ideological map to explain how Americans view the world. He finds that typical Americans are generally consistent over time in their reactions to American uses of force abroad, depending on their foreign policy ideology. From responses to a series of poll questions, Wittkopf classifies people as internationalists, accommodationists, hard-liners, or isolationists. This is a framework that I regularly teach to my students, as I find it extremely valuable in explaining how Americans have responded to U.S. foreign policy actions, as well as the apparent differences between the attitudes of leaders and different segments of the general public.

By Eugene R. Wittkopf,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Faces of Internationalism as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Faces of Internationalism, Eugene R. Wittkopf examines the changing nature of public attitudes toward American foreign policy in the post-Vietnam era and the role that public opinion plays in the American foreign policymaking process. Drawing on new data-four mass and four elite opinion surveys undertaken by the Chicago Council of Foreign Relations from 1974 to 1986-combined with sophisticated analysis techniques, Wittkopf offers a pathbreaking study that addresses the central question of the relationship of a democracy to its foreign policy.
The breakdown of the "consensus" approach to American foreign policy after the Cold War years has become the subject…


Book cover of Dead Doubles: The Extraordinary Worldwide Hunt for One of the Cold War's Most Notorious Spy Ring

Tim Tate Author Of The Spy Who Was Left Out In The Cold: The Secret History of Agent Goleniewski

From my list on non-fiction and fiction Cold War spies.

Why am I passionate about this?

Tim Tate is a multi-award-winning documentary filmmaker, investigative journalist, and the author of 18 non-fiction books. The Cold War shaped – and continues to shape – the world we live in today. Although the collapse of the Soviet Union theoretically ended the conflict between East and West, in reality, the struggle between the Cold War superpowers of America and Russia rumbles on. Nor have the espionage agencies on either side of the former Iron Curtain fundamentally changed. Their actions during the Cold War run deeply beneath modern tensions. I spent years researching the hidden history of the most important Cold War spy; his extraordinary life and activities provide a unique lens with which to understand Cold War espionage.

Tim's book list on non-fiction and fiction Cold War spies

Tim Tate Why did Tim love this book?

The Portland Spy Ring was one of the first espionage cases exposed by Michał Goleniewski. Using MI5’s declassified files, Trevor Barnes tells the extraordinary story of how the discovery of a disillusioned British civil servant selling secrets from the Navy’s submarine research base at Portland revealed a shadowy world of deep-cover KGB spies operating under false identities stolen from the dead.

By Trevor Barnes,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dead Doubles as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE PORTLAND SPY RING was one of the most infamous espionage cases from the Cold War. People the world over were shocked when its exposure revealed the shadowy world of deep cover KGB 'illegals' - spies operating under false identities stolen from the dead.

The CIA's revelation to MI5 in 1960 that a KGB agent was stealing crucial secrets from the world-leading submarine research base at Portland in Dorset looked initially like a dangerous but contained lapse of security by a British man and his mistress. But the couple were tailed by MI5 'watchers' to a covert meeting with a…


Book cover of The Manchurian Candidate

Matt Scott Author Of Surviving the Lion's Den

From my list on political conspiracy books for election season.

Why am I passionate about this?

In college, I studied under the former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, General Sam Wilson, who laid the foundation for my understanding of geopolitics and the intelligence world. Post 9/11, I began reading every book on terrorism that I could find, and my vision for conspiracies was broadened by both what I read and what I experienced in the daily news cycle. Steadily, the combination of my creative juices and research led me to write my trilogy of political spy thrillers, the Surviving the Lion’s Den series, which explores the Iranian threat to the West via a mirage of conspiratorial plots. 

Matt's book list on political conspiracy books for election season

Matt Scott Why did Matt love this book?

While the argument can be made that Julius Caesar was the original conspiracy thriller, this book set the stage for conspiracy theories in the modern era. With two film adaptations and multiple TV references, there’s a reason the book’s premise has imbedded itself into our popular culture.

A recurring question was constantly popping into my head as I was reading it: How deep does the deep state really go? One thing is for certain, you’ll never look at an election the same way again. 

By Richard Condon,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Manchurian Candidate as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Brilliant...wild and exhilarating' New Yorker

Sgt Raymond Shaw is a hero of the first order. He's an ex-prisoner of war who saved the life of his entire outfit, a winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, the stepson of an influential senator...and the perfect assassin. Brainwashed during his time as a POW he is a 'sleeper', a living weapon to be triggered by a secret signal. He will act without question, no matter what order he is made to carry out.

To stop Shaw, his former commanding officer must uncover the truth behind a twisted conspiracy of torture, betrayal and…


Book cover of The War That Never Was

Alex Aaronson Author Of Advance To Contact: 1980

From my list on cold war turns hot military thrillers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I started telling Sea Stories around February 1992, when I reported to the Recruit Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois. Since then, I’ve been entertaining anyone who would listen with my hyperbolic storytelling, a loose relationship with the facts, and a total disregard for modesty. Writing these stories really showcases my experiences not only in the Navy but as a student of history and international relations. I couldn’t possibly write the whole story without having received my BA in International Relations from the University of California at Riverside and my Law Degree from Southern Methodist University.  

Alex's book list on cold war turns hot military thrillers

Alex Aaronson Why did Alex love this book?

I love how Micheal A. Palmer extends his vision of World War III to multiple theaters of war. Whereas other Cold War Turns Hot Military Fiction tends to focus on the Soviets Invading West Germany, Palmer spends considerable time in NATO's Northern Flank, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific theater. 

I really enjoyed this book because if focused specifically on the battles and not as much on individual characters. Don’t get me wrong, I love good character-driven stories, but it really feels like Palmer recognizes his strengths and plays to them. If you love war-gaming as much as I do, you’re going to fall in love with this book.

By Michael A. Palmer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The War That Never Was as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In a fictional look at an alternate history of the Cold War, the two superpowers collide at the peak of their military strength


Book cover of Where the Boys Are: Cuba, Cold War and the Making of a New Left

Eric Zolov Author Of The Walls of Santiago: Social Revolution and Political Aesthetics in Contemporary Chile

From my list on Latin American culture and politics in the 1960s-70s.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been fascinated by the political aesthetics and political ferment of the 1960s. As someone born in the 1960s but not of the 1960’s generation, this has allowed for a certain “critical distance” in the ways I approach this period. I'm especially fascinated by the global circulation of cultural protest forms from the 1960s, what the historian Jeremy Suri called a “language of dissent.” The term Global Sixties is now used to explore this evident simultaneity of “like responses across disparate contexts,” such as finding jipis in Chile. In our book, The Walls of Santiago, we locate various examples of what we term the “afterlives” of Global Sixties protest signage. 

Eric's book list on Latin American culture and politics in the 1960s-70s

Eric Zolov Why did Eric love this book?

Among the books on this list, Gosse’s Where the Boys Are is truly a classic. I first encountered this book a few years after I finished my dissertation and found it to be one of the most original works I had ever read. I still find that to be true. Gosse (with whom I was later a colleague at Franklin & Marshall College) weaves together cultural, intellectual, political, and diplomatic history to show how the Cuban revolution inspired youth in late 1950s America and subsequently helped launch a “New Left” in the United States. Gosse reminds us of how popular Fidel Castro was across the United States in the brief period before he became Enemy #1. But his methodological approach, combining novels, films, and diplomatic records, is truly a model for later interdisciplinary scholarship as well.

By Van Gosse,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Where the Boys Are as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The ignominious failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 marked the culmination of a curious episode at the height of the Cold War. At the end of the fifties, restless and rebellious youth, avant-garde North American intellectuals, old leftists, and even older liberals found inspiration in the images and achievements of Fidel Castro's revolutionary guerrillas. Fidelismo swept across the US, as young North Americans sought to join the 26th of July Movement in the Sierra Maestra. Drawing equally on cultural and political materials, from James Dean and Desi Arnaz to C. Wright Mills and Studies on the Left,…


Book cover of The Bedford Incident

James G. Stavridis Author Of To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision

From my list on to help you make decisions under extreme pressure.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a retired 4-star Admiral who spent over forty years at sea, rising from Midshipman at the Naval Academy to Supreme Allied Commander at NATO. Along the way, I served in and commanded destroyers, cruisers, and aircraft carriers in combat, and I have faced many very difficult decisions under extreme pressure. In addition, I’ve been in the Pentagon for many assignments, including as Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense – which also created countless high-pressure decisions. What I learned in the Navy has helped me again and again in calculating risk and making the right decisions. 

James' book list on to help you make decisions under extreme pressure

James G. Stavridis Why did James love this book?

Set in the days of the full US-Soviet Cold War, this novel shows us a cat-and-mouse game played in the icy waters of the North Atlantic between an American destroyer and a Russian nuclear submarine. Nuclear weapons, the possibility of global war, and the extreme stress of decision-making under pressure are featured in a highly readable story. When I was an anti-submarine officer on a destroyer in the Cold War, I would literally wake up at night in a cold sweat about the possibilities of this kind of nightmare scenario unfolding due to a junior officer making a tragic mistake.

By Mark Rascovich,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Bedford Incident as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is a novel of the sea, and it is told with a skill that merits comparison with the best. It consists of three parts:

The War is the cold war of the 1960’s, but on a little-publicized and bleakly isolated front where opposing naval forces secretly maneuver against each other in the eternally empty reaches of the Arctic Ocean. Here they contest for strategic stakes as vital as those of Berlin or Viet Nam.

The Chase is by a modern American destroyer on the track of a Soviet submarine whose mission is to probe NATO defenses based on Greenland.…


Book cover of Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State
Book cover of The Storm Is Upon Us: How Qanon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything
Book cover of The Breach: The Untold Story of the Investigation Into January 6th

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