Gary Alan Fine is John Evans Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University. His book, Whispers on the Color Line: Rumor and Race in America was a finalist for the C. Wright Mills Award.Bill Ellis is Professor of Enlighs and American Studies at Penn State University at Hazleton. He is a Fellow of the American Folklore Society and has served as President of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research.

If you are interested in how public rumours emerge and spread, this well written book offers good analytical tools and insights. It looks in depth at a number of stories which are 'too good to be false' to show how they play into wider public anxiety.

• INTRODUCTION: RUMOR AND GLOBAL POLITICS

Gary Alan Fine is John Evans Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University. His book, Whispers on the Color Line: Rumor and Race in America was a finalist for the C. Wright Mills Award.Bill Ellis is Professor of Enlighs and American Studies at Penn State University at Hazleton. He is a Fellow of the American Folklore Society and has served as President of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research.

If you are interested in how public rumours emerge and spread, this well written book offers good analytical tools and insights. It looks in depth at a number of stories which are 'too good to be false' to show how they play into wider public anxiety.

• INTRODUCTION: RUMOR AND GLOBAL POLITICS