The Real History of Secret Societies

An introduction to secret societies; the personal experience of Professor Spence in his hometown of Taft, California; many cults are demonized by their enemies and misunderstood by outsiders; they become the stuff of myths and conspiracy theories.

Rhoads is 16 when she dies; the discovery of her body five years after her death opens the door to public awareness of the Divine Order of the Royal Arms of the Great Eleven; Professor Spence highlights that secret societies come in many forms.

The Knights Templar is a military monastic order founded during the Crusades; the knights endure through time to become the subject of much rumor and outright fantasy; knowing whether they are guardians for a holy bloodline or devil worshippers.

Professor Spence looks at the secret societies behind the Boston Tea Party and Bastille Day; the roles that the Sons of Liberty and others play in these important revolutions; Benjamin Franklin and other founders are involved with secret groups.

Learning whether the Bolsheviks are a secret society; surveying the rich history of governmental secret societies who combat revolutionary conspiracies; the allure of the elite and the power of conspiracy; the role of a well-oiled secret society.

The smaller secret societies pop up all over Germany at the end of the 19th century; the larger societies and individuals weave through the background of Hitler's rise to power; the Nazi leader embraces secret-society methods for his own purposes.