<DIV><p> <br>James Shelby Downard, who died at the age of eighty-three in 1996, is one of the most compelling conspiracy theorists of the twentieth century. </p> <p> <br>Robert Anton Wilson wrote that Downard's “King-Kill” essay, regarding the involvement of Freemasons in the murder of John F. Kennedy, is “the most incredible Illuminati theory of them all.” Marilyn Manson wrote a song based on “King-Kill 33°,” and even two rock bands, one in Atlanta and the other in Seattle, named themselves after Downard's piece. </p> <p> <br> <I>The Carnivals of Life and Death</I> is James Shelby Downard's thrilling life story, detailing the skullduggery and ritualism of the KKK and Freemasonry and how they imposed themselves on the young Downard and his family in Depression-era Deep-South America in the 1930s. </p> <p> <br>Editor Elana Freeland writes in her introduction, “Downard's tale is a piece of the puzzle of a very important period when networks of fraternal orders were front and center in consolidating techniques of sociopolitical control.” <br>Interest in the hidden aspects of Freemasonry is reaching boiling point today, and James Shelby Downard's eagerly awaited contribution to this secretive and little-known aspect of American culture will be widely read and discussed.</p></DIV>