Several of the most prolific and influential conspiracy theories have originated in Eastern Europe. The far reaching influence of conspiracy narratives can be observed in recent developments in Poland or with regard to the wars waged in Eastern Ukraine and in former Yugoslavia. This volume analyses the history behind this widespread phenomenon as well the role it has played in Eastern European cultures and literature both past and present.

Peter Deutschmann (PhD), born in 1968, is full professor of Slavic literatures and cultures at the University of Salzburg, Austria. His main fields of research include Russian and Czech literature. Jens Herlth (PhD), born in 1971, is full professor of Slavic literatures at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. His research interests include Polish intellectual history, Russian and Polish literature in the context of the history of ideas, and the relationship between literature and the social sciences. Alois Woldan (PhD), born in 1954, is full professor of Slavic literatures at the University of Vienna, Austria. His fields of research are Polish and Ukrainian literature, comparative Slavic literature and literary life in Austrian Galicia.