Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-289) and index

Our age of propaganda -- Mysterious influence -- Mindless propaganda, thoughtful persuasion -- The rationalizing animal -- Words of influence -- Pictures in our heads -- Saddam Hussein : the Hitler we "know" -- Asking the right questions -- The power of "decoys" -- The psychology of factoids -- The credible communicator -- Breakfast of champions, junk food for the self -- How do you persuade if everyone knows you are untrustworthy, unbelievable, and disliked? -- The manufacture of credibility -- Prizefighter slays 11 with one look : the influence of mass media models -- Packages -- Self-sell -- Naked attics and neighborhood war heroes : on vividness in communication -- Why do they keep repeating the same ads? -- If you have nothing to say--distract them -- If you want to gain an inch, ask for a mile--sometimes! -- Protagoras' ideal : one-sided puffery versus two-sided debate -- The fear appeal -- The granfalloon technique -- Guilt sells -- What is the influence of one flower given? -- The committed heart -- The psychology of scarcity and the mystique of phantoms -- Subliminal sorcery : who is seducing whom? -- Is forewarned forearmed? Or how to really resist propaganda -- Education or propaganda? -- On the ineffectiveness of information campaigns -- What is news? -- Persuasion direct -- How to become a cult leader -- Propaganda in the third Reich : a case for uncertainty -- Peitho's children

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