A Firehose of Falsehood: The Story of Disinformation

by Teri Kanefield, Pat Dorian (Illustrator)

Overview

Lies destroy. Disinformation tears at the fabric of democracy.

A Firehose of Falsehood: The Story of Disinformation breaks down disinformation tactics and offers tools for defending and restoring truth.

From Darius I of ancient Persia (522-486 BCE), to blood libel of the Middle Ages, to Soviet disinformation tactics and modern election deniers, Teri Kanefield and Pat Dorian show how tyrants and would-be tyrants deploy disinformation to gain power.

Democracy, which draws its authority from laws instead of the whim of a tyrant, requires truth. For a democracy to survive, its citizens must preserve and defend truth. Now that the Internet has turned what was once a trickle of lies into a firehose, the challenge of holding on to truth has never been greater. A Firehose of Falsehood offers readers these necessary tools.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250790439
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	02/13/2024
Series:	World Citizen Comics
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	218,470
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Teri Kanefield is a lawyer and the author of more than ten books. Her book awards include the Jane Addams Peace Association Book Award and California Reading Association Silver Honor Book Award. She has published more than 50 articles, essays, and stories in mainstream publications. Her legal analysis has appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, and other major outlets. Her private law practice was dedicated to representing indigents on appeal from adverse rulings. She lives in San Luis Obispo, California.

Pat Dorian grew up fascinated with weird pulp stories, classic horror monsters, 50’s animation, suspenseful radio dramas, and cheesy B-movies. He came into comics from working in theater, animation, and gaming. His first graphic novel, Lon Chaney Speaks, was published by Pantheon. He lives and works in Queens.

Editorial Reviews

02/05/2024

Attorney Kanefield (Free to Be Ruth Bader Ginsberg) and cartoonist Dorian (Lon Chaney Speaks) join forces for a stylishif somewhat scattershot graphic primer on how the “concealed warfare” of disinformation has been deployed by unscrupulous politicians throughout history to smear opponents and deceive a credulous public. Kanefield reaches as far back as antiquity for examples of these political maneuvers by leaders such as India’s Chandragupta Maurya (350–295 BCE), who deployed undercover gossips to sow discord amongst the military leadership of his rivals, and traces the influence of these early exemplars to modern propaganda efforts by 20th-century bogeymen including Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini (who coined the future Trump campaign slogan “drain the swamp”). Shifting focus to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Kanefield analyzes America’s descent into “fake news” and online factionalism, underscoring how the present historical moment is distinguished by the fundamental lack of a shared, fact-based reality, leaving citizens as little more than “victims primed to believe entirely fabricated headlines.” The ambitious scope occasionally results in rushed or reductive arguments, as when examples of race-baiting social media hoaxes perpetrated by Russian operatives posing as Black or Muslim activists are accompanied by iconography from legitimate movements like Black Lives Matter. Nonetheless, Dorian’s dynamic page layouts and retro-art style, with a flair for caricature, keep the proceedings brisk and cogent. Despite a few rough edges, this manages to condense a thorny topic into an accessible guide.(Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"A well-executed, accessible primer on a difficult, timely subject." —Booklist

"A Firehood of Falsehood breaks down the mechanisms of the attack on democracy into its component parts with fierce clarity and narrative power. A Firehood of Falsehood is so lucidly written and analytically acute, that it will be treasured by readers from young adults to scholars in the field."
—Jason Stanley, Professor of Philosophy, Yale University

"A Firehose of Falsehood is an excellent primer on the history of 'the big lie.' This wonderfully told, alluringly illustrated 'story of disinformation' is a most relevant overview of the often sinister art of sowing alternative facts."
—Hans Wiersma, Professor, Augsburg University, Minneapolis, Minnesota

"A Firehose of Falsehood is an important, must read book for anyone who values democracy, free will, and the consent of the governed. It's a highly engaging graphic world tour through the history and practices of propaganda that pulls back the curtain to show how authoritarians have used anti-democratic communication strategies to prop themselves up as 'strongmen,' in order to gain and retain power. Highly recommend!"
—Jennifer Mercieca, Professor, Department of Communication and Journalism, Texas A&M University

From the Publisher