{"product_id":"the-veiled-prophet-secret-societies-white-supremacy-and-the-struggle-for-st-louis-9798888905791","title":"The Veiled Prophet: Secret Societies, White Supremacy, and the Struggle for St. Louis","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA provocative look at the secret society that has controlled St. Louis for over a century, revealing how shadowy elites organize themselves against working-class power. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eEvery December in downtown St. Louis, the city's upper crust attend a garish costume party that doubles as a debutante's ball. The daughters of high society are paraded to the throne of a cloaked monarchical figure, and bow to the Veiled Prophet of Khorassan. At first glance, the event seems outdated and clownish, but in truth the Veiled Prophet Society has functioned as an exclusive club for the \"city fathers,\" where solidarity is built between wealthy men who head major U.S. corporations, banks, and control whole industries. At the Veiled Prophet's Ball, these titans of capital come together to crown one of their daughters the Queen of Love and Beauty, and celebrate the breaking of strikes, the sabotage of protests, and the enforcement of racial hierarchies.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Devin Thomas O'Shea's \u003cem\u003eThe Veiled Prophet \u003c\/em\u003eis the definitive history of the Veiled Prophet Society in all its violence and pageantry, offering a colorful alternate history of the United States through the lens of the Midwestern elite. O'Shea follows the Veiled Prophet Society from its origins in the wake of the 1877 general strike, through the 1904 World's Fair, to the height of the Prophet's--and St. Louis's--influence during the Cold War. \u003cem\u003eThe Veiled Prophet\u003c\/em\u003e examines the unexpected ways this secret society has shaped the course of history, from the CIA to the Vietnam War to the assassination of Martin Luther King.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Yet the power wielded by the Veiled Prophet has not gone uncontested. Since the Gilded Age, the Prophet has faced resistance from orphans armed with pea-shooters, Communist Party organizers during the Depression, Civil Rights icons, and renegade debutantes. The Ferguson uprising of 2014 was only the most recent challenge to the Prophet's influence.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs the fight for the soul and streets of St. Louis intensifies, it's more critical than ever that we expose the sordid history of these powerful, masked figures and their control over our democracy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Haymarket Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/23\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798888905791\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 472","brand":"Devin Thomas O'Shea","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52472896487605,"sku":"9798888905791","price":25.46,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_8551eb11-efdf-4d85-a956-161927bd6df4.jpg?v=1777444689","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-veiled-prophet-secret-societies-white-supremacy-and-the-struggle-for-st-louis-9798888905791","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}