World Famous Comics: The Plot: The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
The Plot: The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
By: Will Eisner Publisher: W. W. Norton Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: W. W. Norton Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 160 Publication Date: May 22, 2006
Product Description: A work more disturbing than fiction from "the father of graphic novels" (New York Times). "The ultimate illustration of how absurdly comical and cancerous 'The Protocols' has been to mankind."—Thane Rosenbaum, Los Angeles Times Book Review
The Plot, which examines the astonishing conspiracy and the fabrication of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, has become a worldwide phenomenon since its hardcover publication, taught in classrooms around the globe. Purported to be the actual blueprints by Jewish leaders to take over the world, the Protocols, first published in 1902, have become gospel truth to international millions. Presenting a pageant of historical figures from nineteenth-century Russia to today's ideologues, including Tsar Nicholas II, Henry Ford, and Adolf Hitler, Will Eisner unravels and dispels one of the most devastating hoaxes of the twentieth century.
"Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies." - Nietzsche A fine exposition of the lies people will believe to back up their biases and prejudices. This is not really enjoyable like other graphic novels I have read but I learned some history along the way and I like the message...so yay - 5 stars!
These wonderful lines from the Afterword by Stephen Eric Bronner sum it all up very well. Instead of "the work", read "opinions" and the following sentence is as applicable to the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" as to any other nonsense spewed by zealots everywhere
"The authenticiy of the work does not seem to matter. But that is because the antisemite, in the great phrase of Jean Paul Sartre, "turns himself into stone." Bigotry becomes his way of explaining the world without having to justify the explanation through evidence or logic. Antisemistism offers a convenient worldview for all the "losers" who feel themselves threatened by the forces of modernity, who fear the future, and who seek comfort in rigid religious and anti-democratic forms of authority. Admitting that these traditional forms of authority are becoming increasingly anachronistic would shatter the bigot's sense of self-worth. Better for the losers to find a "scapegoat"."
brilliantly complicated I was reading The Plot as I considered Wellsprings by Mario Vargas Llosa on the literary life in a world in which an artist is free to pick from whatever speaks for him from a multitude of cultures in order to depict a Socratic hero for his own time. Umberto Eco adds substantial cultural weight to the accusation in The Plot that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are a "Big Lie" (Introduction, Milan, Italy, December 2004, p. vii), but the fantasy which has a literary life of its own keeps springing up. Following the turmoil in Spain that forms the context for Chapter 3 of Wellsprings on Ortega y Gasset and the topic of its chapter 4, "The Challenge of Nationalism," it is easy to pick out elements in The Plot that illustrate how a literary matter may become criminal.
Page 39 of The Plot has a lawyer stating in court, "You, Golovinski, You fabricated them...You!" but it was not a case involving The Protocols, merely business as usual, and Golovinski replied, "I only work for the police! So accuse them!" After being exiled to France, a book by Maurice Joly called "The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu" clearly became his basis for the revolutionary ideas in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. In the seventeenth dialogue, Montesquieu mentioned the god Vishnu: "you have a hundred arms like the Hindu idol and each one of your fingers touches a spring." (The Plot, p. 82). Planning for totalitarianism, Golovinski's work stated, "in our hundred hands will be, one in each, the springs of the machinery of social life. We shall see everything without the aid of official police.... In our programs one-third of our subjects will keep the rest under observation." (Ibid.).
The investigation raises the question, "Now, why on Earth would the Elders of Zion have their kingdom be an apologia for Vishnu, a Hindu God?" (Ibid.). This is precisely like the literary work of Borges, the subject of chapter 2 of Wellsprings and the real literary grip that some people have on the nature of the world that we live in.
The Plot I have heard about the Protocols for years but never took the time to look into them. This is a very concise, easy to read history.
Should Be Required Reading in High School My son came home from high school a few months ago asking what "Mien Kampf" was all about, and I didn't really know what to tell him. Around the same time I read an article by Jeff Nyquist that alleged that Russian intelligence had created a hoax called "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," which Hitler referenced in his book. Somewhat disbelieving, I decided to investigate this Russian connection, which lead me to this book, "The Plot."
The point of "The Plot" is that Russian intelligence fabricated "The Protocols" as a hoax to manipulate the policies of the Tsar, and that the "The Protocols" were fashioned after "The Dialogue in Hell". In fact, whole passages of "The Dialogue" were lifted and inserted into "The Protocols," obviously plagiarized.
This book is written in cartoon format, so it is very engaging, especially for young people.
I wish I had known about this book back in high school so I could have brushed aside some of the conspiracy theories I heard about the Jewish people. This book lays the foundation to understand why the Nazis, Skinheads, Aryans, Islamists, and all other haters of Jews are so irrational about Israel.
The Plot shows that The Protocols is a big fat lie that foments hate, and that this lie has resulted in persecutions, tortures, rapes, and desoltating wars.
To the authors of the "The Protocols", I say: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (KJV, John 8:44); and, "Wo unto the liar, for he shall be thrust down to hell" (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 9:34).
I wish everyone in American would read this book, especially our young people.
Now, for something totally new And the Spirit doesn't strike again! That Will Eisner is a master of the ilustrated narrative everyone knew, but that he was a master of political causes, well, I didn't know. One had glimpses of it, from his string of Graphic Novels, dealing with racial tensions, housing issues, and other questions, but they all seemed to have something to do with the story, it was never the "issue" for the issue. Now, with the history of the infamous libel, the protocols of the elders of zion, this can be almost considered a school book: it's didactic, it has a clear theme presentation methodology, it clearifies the reaserch method... A must read!
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