The Popish Plot: A Study in the History of the Reign of Charles II

In 1678, a disgraced Anglican clergyman named Titus Oates invented a elaborate conspiracy: Catholic priests were plotting to assassinate King Charles II, massacre Protestants, and restore Catholic rule to England. The lie triggered panic, riots, and the execution of dozens of innocent people. John Pollock's landmark study dissects this catastrophe with forensic precision, tracing Oates's wretched origins, his venomous grudge against Catholics, and the wretched machinery of lies he constructed. But this is more than a historical curiosity. Pollock reveals how a single mendacious man weaponized religious fear to topple governments, corrupt justice, and drown a nation in blood. The Popish Plot stands as a damning case study in conspiracy thinking, demonstrating how easily paranoia becomes policy when elites have incentives to believe the worst. Pollock writes with the detached anger of a moralist who sees the pattern repeating across centuries.