I've got this Philip K. Dick book called 'The Penultimate Truth'. It's about this society that's controlled and kept underground producing luxuries for an upper-class of beaurocrats. The people underground think there's a war going on surface, and they're kept informed by thier president about how the 'war' is proceeding. The president is an automaton used to control the people who think they're making devices to support the war effort. The book was written as a comment on the Cold War, but it's still relevant beyond that.