Far from another tired look at crackpot ideas proffered by far left or right wingnuts, Real Enemies artfully plumbs the pervasiveness of fringe thinking throughout history, and blames the U.S. government’s subversive actions for breeding fear and distrust. Author Kathryn Olmsted calls for Americans to demand government openness and accountability because “the most dangerous conspiracies and conspiracy theories flow from the center of American government, not from the margins of society.”