What does The Invisible Coup’s bibliography and endnotes list as primary sources?

Checked on February 3, 2026
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Executive summary

The public-facing listings for Peter Schweizer’s The Invisible Coup (publisher and retail pages, the book’s site and preview listings) advertise that the book is “backed by years of forensic fieldwork” and confidential documents, but none of the provided sources include the book’s full bibliography or endnotes, so this reporting cannot enumerate the primary sources Schweizer cites inside the book [1] [2] [3] [4]. Available previews (Google Books) and library/catalog entries confirm the book’s existence and claims about underlying materials but do not reproduce the endnotes or bibliography in the searchable snippets provided [5] [6] [7].

1. What the public listings say about sources — claims, not citations

Retail pages, the author/site blurbs, and publisher copy consistently state the book rests on forensic fieldwork, confidential documents, and intercepted communications, and they frame those materials as linking political leaders, NGOs, and criminal networks—language that signals extensive documentary sourcing but does not list or itemize the individual primary documents or archive collections themselves [1] [2] [4] [8]. The official book website repeats the same promotional framing—“the names, the money, the machine” exposed by Schweizer—again without reproducing bibliographic detail in the snippets captured by these sources [3].

2. Where reporters and readers can (and cannot) find the bibliography right now

A searchable Google Books entry exists for The Invisible Coup, which sometimes provides preview pages including front matter and notes for other titles, but the Google Books snippet returned here does not reveal the book’s endnotes or full bibliography in the available preview text, so it cannot substitute for examining the physical or full e-book to confirm primary-source citations [5]. Public library and bookstore catalog entries confirm holdings and availability but likewise do not display the bibliography or endnotes in their brief records [6] [7] [9]. In short, none of the provided sources include the endnotes or a list of the specific primary sources Schweizer used.

3. Plausible types of primary sources Schweizer claims to use — based on the book’s promotional language

Because publisher and retail copy emphasize “forensic fieldwork,” “confidential documents,” and “intercepted communications,” the advertised primary-material types likely include internal NGO documents, communications records, interviews, government or law‑enforcement files, and possibly leaked or otherwise nonpublic material—but that is an inference from marketing language, not a verified inventory of citations, and the sources at hand do not permit confirmation of which archives, agencies, or documents are cited [2] [4]. The reporting available cannot verify the provenance, date ranges, or chain-of-custody for any claimed confidential materials without access to the book’s actual notes.

4. Transparency, verification and the competing narratives to watch

Promotional blurbs portraying the book as a blockbuster exposé are typical marketing strategy and reflect an agenda to position Schweizer’s findings as revelatory—a posture evident across publisher and retail pages [1] [8]. Because the provided sources do not show the endnotes, reviewers, reporters, or scholars seeking to verify Schweizer’s claims must consult the book’s back matter directly (hard copy, full e-book, or a library copy) or request the author/publisher to disclose specific documents; those are the only ways to determine precisely which primary sources are listed and how they are cited [5] [6]. Absent that, any public claim about the exact primary sources cited in The Invisible Coup would exceed what the supplied reporting supports.

5. Practical next steps to get the definitive bibliography

To obtain the book’s actual bibliography and endnotes, consult a full copy through a library or bookseller (catalog entries indicate availability), request a publisher press packet or review copy that includes notes, or view the complete e-book on platforms that permit full-text search (the Google Books entry confirms a preview exists but did not expose the back matter in the snippets available here) [5] [6] [10]. Only by inspecting the book’s endnotes directly can researchers catalog the precise primary sources Schweizer lists and assess their provenance and reliability; the materials provided to this analysis do not contain that list [3] [4].

Want to dive deeper?
Where can I access the endnotes and bibliography of The Invisible Coup?
What independent reviews or fact-checks examine the claims and sources in The Invisible Coup?
Which archives, agencies, or NGOs have publicly responded to claims made in The Invisible Coup?