The author goes behind the secrecy and mystery of Yale's Skull and Bones society - through society documents and interviews with members - to reveal the truth about its influence and operations. She also explains why this 19th-century throwback still thrives in 21st-century America.



The Ivy League is full of societies and clubs, some public and some very private, but none is as secret as Yale's Skull and Bones, a tiny, mysterious society that has spawned three presidents, including George W. Bush and his father. Skull and Bones' cloak-and-dagger secrecy has prompted people worldwide to attribute to it some of the most staggering conspiracies in modern history - as well as events including the drop of the atom bomb, the rise of Hitler and the Bay of Pigs invasion. From their nearly windowless crypt in the middle of the campus the Bonesmen, it is said, plot world domination! Journalist Alexandra Robbins slips through the veil of secrecy to investigate, through society documents and interviews with dozens of members, the truth about Skull and Bones' influence and operations. She also explains why the old-boy, 19th century throwback, a product of another time, still thrives in 21st century America.