"History is the lie commonly agreed upon,"
-- Voltaire

So it goes that most history books are wrong, or at best, highly inaccurate. Disfigured by the lies of the times, they typically present factoids without context -- and usually without any hint of the power struggles and conspiracies of realpolitik.

Written by academicians and other hacks employed by the Power Elite, mainstream history books usually present a biased world view, so the Ruling Class can govern without interference.

There are, however, rare exceptions.

Jim Marrs' "Rule by Secrecy" is a challenging and provocative history of the world framed by the realities of secret societies. It is a literal encyclopedia of hidden knowledge.

"Secret societies not only exist," he writes, "they have played an important role in national and international events right up to this day."

Marrs begins with modern public policy and political action groups of the Power Elite -- the Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderbergers, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, the Round Table Group, and the Order of Skull and Bones.