Hello,
In The Captains and the Kings (1976) Caldwell takes on the global power brokers. In this book we find, running through the story line, a description of the way the international financiers and industrialists (all private consortiums owned by an elite of the world's richest families and persons) hijack governments around the globe; instigating wars and gaining control over the warring countries through manipulation of the enormous debts incurred during a war. Mentioned too is the Council on Foreign Relations; and while a disclaimer states that all persons portrayed in the book are fictional, it is clear that the Council on Foreign Relations, as well as another major organization of the globalists are both very real organizations. Also described is the idea that political systems everywhere, and certainly in the US, are almost totally dominated by the ruling elite; and that no one even gets into the running for a major political office unless the elite believes the person is under their control. It is explained that this can be direct control; e.g., the candidate takes a solemn oath to be true to that organization above all others; or indirect control: the candidate is known to have done something illegal or scandalous. The threat of public exposure can then be used to bend the person to the will of the elite. Politicians can also be compromised through a "set-up". When necessary the elite will play that hand (conform or be ruined by the controlled media). It is further explained that there have been a few who were not under the control of the elite (back in the 40s and 50s) and who had some success on their own. These individuals were not corruptible and in such cases very dirty tricks were employed against them. There is a figure in the book obviously symbolising JFK, who went along with the elitists, (his father's cronies) but who once in power went his own way - resulting in his assassination.
The Captains and the Kings was made into a TV mini-series - which avoided all the serious implications of the book and concentrated on being a predictable sex and drama story.
thanks
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That would be fantastic, Robert. To have that in the TC memorabilia archive would be a great addition.
That would be a great idea Michael. If I could get the audio in a dss file I would be able to transcribe it as I have a dss player and a foot pedal I could us could use it to start and stop the audio and transcribe it as I was a transcriptionist for over 20 years, lol.
Robert, the Carroll Quigley interview on "Tragedy and Hope" seems intriguing. For example, that the plates were inadvertently destroyed. Yet, despite the statement that the original tape has been fixed, it is still extremely difficult to hear. What would be wonderful would be a transcript of it, that selected – at least – the key elements.
Interesting in the bibliography at the end of Captains and the Kings she lists the book Tragedy and Hope by Carroll Quigley. By the time CATK was published the book Tragedy and Hope was pretty difficult to obtain as it was published in 1966 and was out of print in 1968. Quigley said in an interview that Colliers who bought McMillan publishing said they would reprint it if they got 2000 orders but told everybody who ordered it that it was out of print and they finally told Quigley that the plates to the book were "inadvertently destroyed" and he believed that it was suppressed. There is a rare 1974 interview of him discussing this on youtube. He starts discussing it at the 6:39 mark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyeL8LqN118
Hi, Robert, the following is a reply from my sister, Drina, to your recent post on this. As I mentioned there is a technical issue that prevents her from easily replying at length
From Drina Fried:
Yes, she was one of the first who wrote about that role of the International Financiers and Globalists in American politics. She used to talk about that regularly at Thursday night dinners at my parent’s house. Anyone who listened thought she was out of her mind. But NO, she wasn’t!
I have the miniseries on DVD and enjoyed it, however it leaves out much of the main points of the book. The book is very informative and leaves a lot for the reader to think about when it comes to who really call the shots in our political power structure. I also appreciated the bibliography in the back of the book Taylor Caldwell supplied for further reading. She was one of the first writers that I know of who wrote about the role of the international financiers and corporations and globalists in American politics in her novels.
Michael, In my response to the review of Kirkus on "Testimony of Two Men" I suggest the backdrop of the Kennedy era. No question that she was attuned to how the moneyed and power hungry were avaricious for political control. "Captains and the Kings" came out as a television miniserial even before "Rich man, Poor Man" (based on Irwin Shaw's novel) and also "Roots" (which surely was of a different nature). Your observation that the serialized "Captains ..." was a sanitized version of the actual novel by Caldwell was very valuable. Her predilection to chronicle the families that blossomed into great power started with "Dynasty of Death" and her follow ups to that. You have also suggested some of the sources for her understanding of what were those earlier mechanisms for securing power. I hadn't thought to clarify that theme in her work. Since her sagas go back to the 1800s, it would make an interesting contribution to Jane Mayer's "Dark Money." Following that to a fit conclusion would add some insight into her own disparagement of the hopes for progress.
Michael, readers of your post that might have seen the mini-series (as well as those that haven't) should find good reason to read the novel, as all these mechanisms of power and control are very much in play today internationally. Thank you very much for this contribution!