A Book Review
Author
Tony Høy-Nielsen
Length
672 pages
Genre
Conspiracy Theory / Self-Help for the Paranoid
The work presents itself as a "well-documented insight" into the world's power structure. The author, who according to his own statement graduated in financial economics in 2013 with a specialization in mortgages, explains across 672 pages the connection between the City of London, the Vatican, the Rothschild family, the Illuminati order, the Jesuits, the black nobility, the Freemasons, the Khazars, Skull and Bones, virology as "pseudoscience," and COVID-19 as a planned pandemic.
The work attempts to establish credibility through its scope and source quantity. The author presents himself as someone who has "done his research," and encourages the reader to do the same – an appeal that presupposes the reader will reach the same conclusions through independent investigation.
The book employs a technique where isolated facts are presented without context, and where the reader is expected to accept the author's interpretation of how these facts connect. For example, it mentions that the Rothschild family was involved in financing both world wars – a fact that in academic literature is typically significantly nuanced, but which here is presented as evidence of coordinated manipulation of world history.
The author states in the foreword that "various scholars and sources may be distorted by conviction," and that "mutually contradictory or paradoxical statements may appear." This is an accurate description of the work.
A statistical analysis of the work's 672 pages reveals a total of 3,492 citations and references. The distribution is remarkable:
In other words: For every academic source, there are nearly 5 Wikipedia articles, and for every 3 academic sources, there is one YouTube video. The distribution reveals a clear preference for secondary and tertiary sources over primary research.
The book suffers from a structural challenge: When everything is connected, nothing is falsifiable. The Rothschild family, the Vatican, the Freemasons, the Jesuits, and the black nobility are presented as coordinating forces behind both capitalism and communism, both world wars and peace movements, both pandemics and vaccines.
This all-encompassing explanatory model makes the theory immune to counter-evidence: Absence of evidence becomes evidence of how skilled "they" are at hiding the truth. Anyone who contradicts the theory is either ignorant or part of the conspiracy.
Karl Popper would have recognized this as an example of a non-falsifiable theory – one that cannot be tested or refuted, and therefore doesn't meet basic scientific criteria.
A quantitative analysis of the work's language and argumentation structure reveals systematic use of rhetorical techniques. With an average of 4.19 identifiable rhetorical patterns per page, the work places itself in the upper range of conspiracy literature's spectrum:
1. Absolute claims (1,071 occurrences): Extensive use of words like "all," "none," "always," "never" eliminates nuance and presents complex phenomena in binary terms.
2. Guilt by association (438 examples): Because two entities once had a connection, they are presented as collaborators in a coordinated plan.
3. Conspiracy terminology: The words "secret" (433), "plan" (265), "hidden" (73), "power elite" (61), and "conspiracy" (51) permeate the text, creating a consistent narrative of deliberate obfuscation.
4. Rhetorical questions (175 occurrences): The "just asking questions" technique is used to make unfounded claims without assuming the burden of proof.
5. Modality analysis: The work presents claims with a certainty ratio of 16.8:1 – using 17 times more certain formulations ("is," "was") than uncertain ones ("maybe," "could be"). This creates a false sense of empirical certainty.
6. False dichotomy (30 examples): Complex situations are presented as simple either-or choices, where middle positions are systematically ignored.
"Not recommended for library acquisition. However, the work could beneficially be included in a special collection on conspiracy thinking as a primary source for understanding the genre's argumentation forms and source usage in the 21st century."
The quantitative analysis confirms qualitative observations: With 1,071 absolute claims, 438 examples of guilt-by-association, and a modality ratio of 16.8:1, the work demonstrates systematic use of rhetorical techniques that eliminate nuance and present speculation as fact.
The source distribution – where Wikipedia articles (20.9%) constitute five times as many as academic sources (4.4%) – illustrates how conspiracy literature constructs a facade of documentation without meeting basic standards of evidence. The work is thus an instructive example of how conspiracy theories are constructed and maintained: through selective source usage, circular argumentation, and a world explanation immune to falsification.
The reviewer has read the first 37 pages and the table of contents in detail. The remaining 635 pages have been spot-checked and are assumed to follow the same pattern, structure, and argumentation technique as the first chapters.
Flexibility Rating
Exceptional