Published by Mayflower, 1973, softcover, 795 pages, index, condition: very good.
Topics include Aleister Crowley, G.I. Gurdjieff, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Kabbalah, primitive magic, Franz Anton Mesmer, Gregor Rasputin, Daniel Dunglas Home, Paracelsus, P.D. Ouspensky, Wm Blake, Giovanni Jacopo Casanova, Cornelius Agrippa etc.
Acknowledgments Preface Introduction
Part 1:A Survey of the Subject Magic-The Science of the Future The Dark Side of the Moon The Poet as Occultist
Part 2:A History of Magic The Evolution of Man The Magic of Primitive Man Adepts & Initiates The World of the Kabbalists Adepts & Imposters The 19th Century--Magic & Romanticism The Beast Himself Two Russian Mages Part 3:Man's Latent Powers Witchcraft & Lycanthropy The Realm of Spirits Glimpses Bibliography Index,
I think Wilson has one of the most readable styles I've ever encountered. This helps when you're reading a thousand-pager.
This one ranges across all aspects of the Occult - the "hidden" and marginalised, mocked areas of human experience not yet accepted, documented, categorised. That means parapsychology, the supernatural, magic, astrology, UFOs, ghosts, alchemy and so on.
Wilson has his own thesis to pursue, which drives the book, and it's a fascinating ride.
Colin Wilsons classic work is an essential guide to the mind-expanding experiences and discoveries of the occult in the 20th century. He produces a wonderfully skillful synthesis of the available materialone that sees the occult in the light of reason and reason in the light of the mystical and paranormal. The result is a wide-ranging survey of the subject that provides a comprehensive history of magic, an insightful exploration of our latent powers, and a journey of enlightenment.I am very impressed by this book, not only by its erudition butabove all for the good-natured, unaffected charm of the author whose reasoning is never too far-fetched, who is never carried away by preposterous theories. Sunday Times
