Easily Led | 
 enlarge | Author: Oliver Thomson
Publisher: Sutton Publishing
Category: Book
Buy New: $167.82
New (1) Used (2) from $49.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 1490681
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 360
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0750919655
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.37509
EAN: 9780750919654
ASIN: 0750919655
Publication Date: June 1, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
This fascinating new book plots five millennia of the most powerful of all tools of persuasion.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A book you should read October 31, 2007
This is one of the history books that I enjoyed reading the most. It gave me several insights, and I will never look at world history the same way again. We assume that propaganda is banners and songs, but it could also be something so simple as to put the emperor's picture on all the coins in the Roman Empire - cementing the idea of the emperor and the Empire as one. It can be buildings, and other things that make a certain era more physical, more permanent. It could be the introduction of numbers. "The introduction of numbers into propaganda messages has mnemonic qualities: it provides packaging concepts, dresses up otherwise dry ideas and provides an indentity." For example, Zero Tolerance, Trinity, the Third Reich, Four Books of China, Five Sikh virtues (all beginning with K), Six pillars of wisdom, Seven sages of Greece, Eight paths of virtue, Nine orders of angels, Ten Commandments.... I wouldn't have thought of that without Thomson.
Reading Thomson's book you realize what it is ordinary people react to the most: not to dry texts with statistics and facts, but to a long list of symbols. Colors, flags, buildings, holidays, signs, greetings, poems, movies, novels, parades, martyrs, heroes, wrongs, victories, etc etc. The asketic hermit and the hermine collar both have their place. Put a pin on your shirt to show your support for some cause ("AIDS awareness" maybe?), and you support the society that relies on those pins and the organizations that use them. Repetition of the simple is key. Repetition makes a concept seem stronger.
Thomson's book also covers several historical periods, where you can delve into the one you are the most interested of. And to the last reviewer: yes, when Thomson writes about Franciscans he won't take the time to explain to you what Franciscans are. When he writes about Prussians or th French Revolution, you either know what he is talking about, or you learn it from the cues in the text, or maybe you should use Google. The book is thick enough as it is. I for one had no problem following the path through history. Easily Led is definitely a good addition to the historical puzzle.
 To many names and dates, not enough explanation or depth October 20, 1999
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
It is an endless list of names (and dates in brackets)with occasional interest. There is not any deep analysis of any of the propaganda documents alluded to. For example "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is mentioned maybe 15 times in the book, but with only the briefest of explanations of it. Quotes in French are generally not translated. Sorry, I don't know French, what am I supposed to do? Names of long gone newspapers are scattered here and there, as if the name is interesting and useful in itself. Terms are used without further explanation. For example: "This was the British version of Bushido" Ah. Can you remember what Bushido was? Has he already explained this? Maybe it is in the index? No, of course it is not in the index. It is assumed that you know ALL your WORLD history, because Mr. Thomson is not going to remind you of any of it. There are interesting parts, but you have to wade through a lot of fluff, names, and untranslated quotations, to get to it. It feels like a fleshed out detailed university thesis.
 In all, a good overview of propaganda September 22, 1999
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book was a nice general overview of how propaganda has been used throughout the ages. My only two problems with the book concerned the lack of visuals (more could have been used), and the occasional confusion concerning historical figures. I found that I was lost when discussion was given on British history. However, these minor problems did not detract from the overall book.
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