Cover title: Assassination of JFK by coincidence or conspiracy?Includes index.

This book challenges the dominant assumptions and attitudes that shape education and is the first major study in the UK to adopt 'Critical Race Theory' – a radical new perspective on the nature of racism and public policy.

A wrong number here, a case of mistaken identity there, a chance meeting with a stranger who knows your best friend. Most people dismiss such things as trivial, unimportant. Mere coincidence. Or could there be a hidden pattern in these seemingly random events? George Daly's life has been as unremarkable as most people's, until the day he finds himself going through his dead father's possessions. He discovers a photograph of himself as a boy, but he has no memory of where it was taken, nor does he recognize the people with him. As he investigates further, he experiences an increasingly bizarre chain of coincidences that soon threaten to unravel his whole world. Before long he finds himself fighting for his sanity and even his survival.

“A tremendous novel—droll, savvy, original. An invigorating blast of fiction.” —William Boyd, Author of Any Human Heart and Restless.” A hurricane sweeps off the Gulf of Mexico and, in the back country of Alabama, assembles a passenger jet out of old bean cans and junkyard waste. This piques the interest of the enigmatic Directorate of the Extremely Improbable. Their fascination with this random event sets into motion a madcap caper that will bring together a hilarious cast of characters, including: an eccentric mathematician, last heard of investigating the physics of free will; a lovelorn Cambridge postgraduate who has set off to America with a ring in his pocket and hope in his heart; and a member of the Directorate with no capacity for imagination. What ensues is a chaotic chase across a fully realized, hyper-real America, haunted by madness, murder, mistaken identity, and conspiracy. The Coincidence Engine is a lively, boisterous debut that heralds the arrival of a major new talent.

Unravelling the genealogies and permutations of conspiracist worldviews, this work shows how this web of urban legends has spread among sub-cultures on the Internet and through mass media, and how this phenomenon relates to larger changes in American culture.

Could a satanic cult or serial killing gang be behind more than forty disappearances and deaths of college aged men across the Midwest? Is the smiley face killers myth or reality? It has often been said that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. Could the "Smiley Face Killers", be a part of that trick?

We've all experienced or heard of surprising events and unexplainable coincidences—money that seems to come from nowhere, a spontaneous idea that turns into a life-changing solution, meeting our soulmate on a flight we weren't supposed to take, or families being reunited by "accident" after years of separation. Often these coincidences are explained as being controlled by a higher power or pure chance. But for the first time since Carl Jung's work, comes bold new research that explains scientifically how we can identify, understand, and perhaps even control the frequency of coincidences in our everyday lives. Bernard Beitman, a leading expert on Coincidence Studies, proposes a greater personal responsibility which depends partly upon newly discovered "grid cells" located in the brain, near the hippocampus. But neuroscience cannot complete the entire puzzle, and in this fascinating guide, Beitman provides the missing piece. From analyzing true stories of synchronicity from around the globe and throughout history, he shares key personality characteristics and situational factors that contribute to the occurrence of meaningful coincidences in our lives. Where other books on coincidences tend to be theoretical, inspirational, or story collections only, Beitman's book is the first to provide a scientific understanding and practical ways in which readers can use them in their own lives. He reveals: How to activate your observing self so you don't miss synchronistic moments How serendipity can offer insights into solving problems or making difficult decisions Why stress activates meaningful coincidences Which states of mind impede our ability to experience synchronicity How to interpret the meaning of a coincidence Why being attuned to coincidences is a learned skill—and how to hone your sensitivity.