In recent years, conspiracy theories have been thought to come exclusively from the wilder shores of political observation, implausibly far-fetched at best and dangerous at worst. By definition, however, a conspiracy occurs each time a group of influential people agree a course of action in private and by extra-democratic means. Conspiring is part of any politician's job description, and any criminal's attempt to pervert the course of justice. From new information on the usual suspects, like the Bildeberg Group; through covert intelligence involvement with Britain's Wilson government, royal family, and in the Profumo affair; to Reagan's secret post-Cold-War agenda and a mooted plot within the current US administration to supersede George W. Bush.