Phil Tinline

In 1967, a group of New York writers concocted what appeared to be a top-secret government report into what would happen to the USA if permanent global peace broke out. Report from Iron Mountain claimed that winding down America's vast war-making machinery would wreck the economy and tear society apart. It was published as non-fiction - and was frighteningly convincing.

Even when the hoax was revealed, many refused to believe it wasn't real. The Report was seized on by eager figures on the far right and in the militia movement, who insisted that it revealed terrifying government conspiracies to pollute the environment, enslave Americans and even instigate eugenics. And its legacy lives on today.

Ghosts of Iron Mountain traces this story through a gallery of vivid characters. This is one of the great stories of our time and reveals how nightmares about its own government drove America crazy.