The Illustrated Secret History of the World

Saw this at the library, fortunately, as it's flaws and uniformed opinions which the author passes along as "facts" - other than a catchy title - there are much better books available. Graham Hancock, whom I've met, and always gives "good" quotes to anyone who mentions his name, wrote a book called "Fingerprints of the Gods" that is vastly superior.

Very little on ancient Egypt, surprising as that is the one place where evidence of human intelligence actually survived, then he gives overdue credit to the Greeks, who, by their own, direct admission, borrowed everything from Egypt. Read John West's outstanding work "Serpent in the Shy" and you will get the real story - I went to Egypt with that author and saw first hand for myself, so when I read this tripe, you can see a weakling, pseudo-intellectual type who never "did" it, for themselves. G.I Gurdjieff certainly outlined the real history of the world, but he is very hard to follow; this author ignores him, quite pathetic as Gurdjieff wrote, 100 years ago, about the "Big Bang" which was known in ancient times, and many dozens historical facts, like the Gnostics knowing "in secret" that Judas story in Gospel was false, something discovered 10 years ago and published by Nat Geo - the author also chooses to repeat unfounded and thourghly disproved gossip and lies about him, which further invalidate his work. Garbage in, garbage out.

This is a book of total nonsence. Wild conjectures and unsupported suggestions. There is really nothing of interest here for an educated person. If you believe in the boogie man, buy this book. Yes, there are understandings of this world that escape superficial mechanistic observation. But you won't learn anything from this book. It's laughable.

SELLER NEVER SHIPPED ME THE BOOK. I tried to email them about how I haven't recieved it and the SELLER gave me some automated response. Its been about 2 1/2 months now and I still haven't recieved it. AGAIN, DO NOT BUY FROM THIS SELLER

When you look deep enough into the DNA and history of science itself, it becomes evidently clear that both mysticism and esoteric thought were its predecessor. This informative and well researched title does an "incredible" job at making feel as if you are a silent participant secretly witnessing some of these historic secret ceremonies. As author Mark Booth weaves a a spellbinding "factual" narrative with historical legends ranging from Pythagoras, Issac Newton, and Carl Jung to Rasputin and Rudolph Steiner, the cravings of your curiosity seem to grow in tandem. A fascinating page turner for sure, this title does not disappoint...I highly recommend giving it a read. (Or listening to it as an audio-book...I was able to finish it in 2 days.)

This book is hilarious!

The author himself uses the word 'hilarious' on page 557 (in the 2010 Quercus editioin I have) where he lists a number of suggested Anti-Christs in the Postscript, finishing with 'even - hilariously - Richard Dawkins.' I would have to agree with him, but also suggest that that is only one example of hilarity - on one page - which makes the 577 pages of the whole book more hilarious by a factor of, say, 577.

Just a few examples of the ridiculous statements that this book makes....

Page 67: 'All Christian churches are astronomically aligned, normally due east on the saint's day to which [whom?] the church is dedicated.' Nonsense! Many, many churches have no such 'align'ment whatsoever.

Page 98: 'The first three epochs of the cosmos, the mineral, vegetable and animal eras - Saturn-day, Sun-day and Moon-day - are remembered in the names of the first three days of the week. These days of the week are named after these three heavenly bodies in this particular order for this reason alone' [author's emphasis]. Since when has Saturday been the first day of the week? The most cursory look at Wikipedeia's page on the subject shows that the vast majority of cultures have the first day as Sunday, and nearly all the rest use Monday; in fact the ONLY language mentioned that uses Saturday is Swahili! Besides, the Romance group of languages (e.g. French, Spanish) have names for Sunday and Saturday that are totally unrelated to the sun and Saturn, respectively. Does this then mean that the 'reason' mentioned above was known only to 'initiates' in the Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, and Scandinavian cultures? Or perhaps the 'initiates' in the Romance cultures were merely a bit lazy in communicating this important point to the people who chose names for the days?

Pages 230-231: 'If you... divide 64 by 63, you come up with what has been called the greatest secret of the Egyptians, a number called the Comma of Pythagoras. Highly complex numbers like the Comma of Pythagoras, Pi and Phi... are known irrational numbers.' This is true of Pi and Phi, but most certainly NOT true of the 'Comma', since irrational numbers are precisely numbers which CANNOT be expressed as a ratio (or division) between two whole numbers or integers - hence the name 'ir[not]-ratio-nal'. The author would be well advised to take more care in his research before making statements like this one... which would be laughed out of court by any high-school mathematics student.

Page 392: Here the author relates part of the story of Don Quixote - the hero of Cervantes' novel - thus: Don Quixote is tricked 'into believing that the beautiful Dulcinea has been bewitched, so that she looks like a squat peasant girl. Apparently, the only way she can regain heer beautiful form is if Sancho Panza submits to a beating of 3,300 lashes. We shall return to examine the significance of the number thirty-three shortly.' What, we may ask, does 33 have to do with 3,300, apart from the coincidence that the latter is the former multiplied by 100? More to the point, however, is that there is no sign whatsoever of the promised explanation of this 'significance' in the rest of the book. Did it somehow disappear?... or lose its so-called 'significance'?... or is it simply another of the red herrings that the author sets afloat so often in this book?

(For a few more of the 'howlers' in this book, see the review posted by 'estoney' on 20 July 2011.)

I bought this book in the - naive - hope that I might learn something of the real history of the esoteric tradition. Instead, it turned out to be the author's personal re-hashing of the vast amount of reading he has done on the subject, presented in a way that almost - but not quite - convinces the reader that he actually believes all the nonsense that he spouts. I cannot help but wonder if he was commissioned by those very 'secret societies' and 'initiates' to write it in this way so that its readers would fall about laughing and so would leave them - the 'secret societies' - in peace to get on with whatever they get on with.

Chapter 5 concludes with 'So why have great men and women of history, initiates of the secret societies, believed in them? Why should any intelligent person even begin to toy with the idea?' Why, indeed? My conclusion is: No reason at all, and the remainder of this book gives me not the slightest reason to change my mind.

The title is very misleading. This is NOT a book about secret societies and their influence on world history. This book is trying to give credibility to the thought that Hinduism is the most accurate source for the creation of the earth. It compares multiple religious myths from ancient cultures and draws the conclusion that they are all variations of Hindu teachings. He uses many Bible quotes and some of them are good for thought, but he often misquotes or misinterprets his Bible references.
Someone with limited knowledge could readily be misled by this book.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. When one realizes how much of a superstitious narrative ruled the plotting and planning of individuals to empires, one can see the hidden strings of motivation behind them. Is the invisible real? Far more real than the phenomena of the world of appearances. Magnetism and ideas are proof of the invisible's power over the so-called real world of reactionary and deducted non-thinking. Some the histories of the thinking and motivation of individuals 'sensitive' to these forces is entertaining yes, but are usable for our own insight, instinct and intuition. Considering the sham of all commercial or political movement "religions" on the planet, it is easy to cast off the deeper lessons contained in the mystical. But there is a 'coherence' that runs like a golden string throughout all events both individually and collectively, and those who are uplifted in their experiences and expressions by being tuned into this coherence, will enjoy this book as well.

This book, like previous reviewer comment, is geared toward audience in occultism and secret society. One common theme throughout the book is the theory of mind-before-matter. Specifically, our material world is emancipated from mind of the divine one and our consciousness once connected with the higher world, has the potential to alter reality, which is the secret teaching of occultism and magick operation. Another important theme in this book is incarnation human soul and also provides insight into several initiation rituals of secret sects. I recommend this book as a great companion to the occultism classics "secret teaching of ages" from Manly Hall as the history narrative in this book provide an excellent backdrop for further studies.

The positive: there are quite a number of interesting connections that Booth makes between ancient mythologies and the evolution of religious thought over the past two millennia and he provides some useful food for thought.

The not-so-positive: many threads are started and just dropped and parts of the narrative are disjointed, making the chapters come across more as jumbles of trivia. Also because many of Booth's ideas are not well supported this prompts skepticism about this being a secret history and more a series of fanciful speculations.

Very, very light on substance of history. What was the title again?? VERY disappointed. I returned it. You could do better searching for specific times in history. And yes, I have thousands of hours in psychology study, many hundreds in history, and way too many to be believed in religion.
That all being stated, anyone who needs or wants to shift their thought pattern from what they were raised to believe could benefit. Few people explore alternate opinions. In this you break the cognitive pattern you were molded in and explore at your own rate. This is a good thing. If this applies to you, it could be a five star book.

This was an extremely difficult book to write, and despite the criticisms of clarity and continuity, I have to point out the immense challenges of trying to put shape and form to an area of study which defies both. I think Booth did a service to the gnostic community by venturing into a space which few authors ever dare to tread because of the immediate backlash from the community-at-large. It is not perfect, but in plumbing the depths of expression around notions and concepts that refuse to be converged into anything manageable, Booth did a very admirable job. There are very few contemporary works this can be compared to, so as an outlier, it becomes a point of navigation.

This book, like previous reviewer comment, is geared toward audience in occultism and secret society. One common theme throughout the book is the theory of mind-before-matter. Specifically, our material world is emancipated from mind of the divine one and our consciousness once connected with the higher world, has the potential to alter reality, which is the secret teaching of occultism and magick operation. Another important theme in this book is incarnation human soul and also provides insight into several initiation rituals of secret sects. I recommend this book as a great companion to the occultism classics "secret teaching of ages" from Manly Hall as the history narrative in this book provide an excellent backdrop for further studies.

The positive: there are quite a number of interesting connections that Booth makes between ancient mythologies and the evolution of religious thought over the past two millennia and he provides some useful food for thought.

The not-so-positive: many threads are started and just dropped and parts of the narrative are disjointed, making the chapters come across more as jumbles of trivia. Also because many of Booth's ideas are not well supported this prompts skepticism about this being a secret history and more a series of fanciful speculations.

Very, very light on substance of history. What was the title again?? VERY disappointed. I returned it. You could do better searching for specific times in history. And yes, I have thousands of hours in psychology study, many hundreds in history, and way too many to be believed in religion.
That all being stated, anyone who needs or wants to shift their thought pattern from what they were raised to believe could benefit. Few people explore alternate opinions. In this you break the cognitive pattern you were molded in and explore at your own rate. This is a good thing. If this applies to you, it could be a five star book.

This was an extremely difficult book to write, and despite the criticisms of clarity and continuity, I have to point out the immense challenges of trying to put shape and form to an area of study which defies both. I think Booth did a service to the gnostic community by venturing into a space which few authors ever dare to tread because of the immediate backlash from the community-at-large. It is not perfect, but in plumbing the depths of expression around notions and concepts that refuse to be converged into anything manageable, Booth did a very admirable job. There are very few contemporary works this can be compared to, so as an outlier, it becomes a point of navigation.

I am intrigued (as a conservative Baptist) with the esoteric tradition, and have books by Manly Hall and others who have written on the subject (I like the works of Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke). Other reviewers have given good, general critiques of this book which I won't reiterate, but here I'll just give a few specific examples of the kind of failings they see in it.

On page 379 (paperback) the author says that there are "no major paintings by Raphael of events that took pace after the death of John the Baptist." That just isn't true. Raphael painted a magnificent "Transfiguration," which is an event that took place after the death of John (if one follows the gospels in a chronological narrative way); also, in his paintings in the Stanza della Signatura Raphael painted the liberation of Peter from prison by the angel, a narrative from the book of Acts.

On page 385 he tells us that Albrect Durer's waterolor of a piece of turf was "the first still life ever painted." Not so. There are Roman era frescos from Pompeii that depict still-life objects. The author claims that "before Durer no one had really looked at a rock and a clump of grass in the way we take for granted today." This would seem astonishing for anyone familiar with early 15th century Flemish painting, especially the biologically accurate depictions of garden flowers and grass in Robert Campin's "Merode Altarpiece," or the maginificently observed botanical representations in Van Eyck's "Ghent Altarpiece."

As for bad writing, there are enough spelling errors that a reader will notice them. As for bad writing, here is a real clunker (p. 297). "With Jesus Christ not only did the individual began [should be "begin"]to experience the sense we all have now that, parallel to the limitless, infinitely various [should be "varied"] cosmos out there, we each have inside us a cosmos which is equally rich and limitless, but Jesus Christ also introduced the sense that each of us now has of a personal narrative history that weaves in and out of the general history." Now that sentence is not, I must say, typical of the writer's style, and obviously is a flaw that must be shared by the editing team. But it does give evidence of a certain lack of care in the preparation of the book.

Jonathan Black's "Secret History Of The World" is an excellent summary of the various underground streams of esoteric teachings which have trickled down from Ancient Egypt through Greece, Rome, Byzantium, Middle Ages Germany and Spain, Renaissance Italy and pre- and post-Enlightenment Britain. The traces of Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Cabalism, Sufism, Alchemy and all the illumined rest are all touched on throughout Black's seminal text. Seminal in its clear exposition of obscure symbolisms and hidden practices.
Although Black suffers from a repeated indulgence in unsupported assertion, it's pretty much par for the course when you're dealing with secret societies and their spawn, most of whom still insist, often with threatening overtones, on anonymity.
A significant part of his argument is based on informed anecdote rather than scholarly research, but if the reader has reached the stage of intuitive as opposed to intellectual understanding, much of this will ring true, and certain already imagined and suspected patterns will fall into place.
Black writes as an informed insider rather than a fully fledged initiate, but for the task at hand I suspect that is the most useful approach.
Highly recommended for serious students of the occult and esoteric.

gordon phinn (wordofgord)

Equally fascinating and irritating, but I did keep reading it in spite of my scientific materialist rationalist beliefs. I accidently came across the book in an airport shortly after reading Dan Brown's latest and thought it would provide more info on the Masons and others. I didn't expect it would actively promote these various beliefs. The author skips along merrily from one belief set to another, making connections throughout the time and space continuum, mentioning all sorts of people, places and events, often in the same sentence or paragraph with little to no detail that might convince the wary reader. Even Dan Brown comes in for a mention or two, as does Umberto Eco, as though The DaVinci Code and Foucault's Pendulum are somehow equivalent works that don't take diametrically opposed approaches to their topics.

It is an incredibly ambitious effort to the point of absurdity. It would take several lifetimes devoted to intense study to read and absorb everything mentioned. So, Booth doesn't really try to persuade in any rational sense. Instead he bombards the reader with endless stimuli coming at one from every conceivable direction, in apparent effort to break through our hardened skulls(a point made more manifest in reading the work)and reach our atrophied pinal glands or third eyes. You can't follow the bouncing ball of his writing. You must accept that there is no ball and just experience this magical mystery tour.

This book seriously should have been proofread, or at least run through a simple spellchecker prior to publication. My god I have not seen a book with this many typos in my life. Where was the editor? Why was this book not proofread? It is very hard to take an author seriously when he fails so often to communicate the written word correctly. Also, without a single bibliographic reference, any attempt to take the book seriously becomes a choice between blind faith or no faith.

All that aside, there are also many mistakes made by Booth when referencing historical characters. One example is when he switches back and forth between calling one of them Rosenkreuz and Rosencrantz. Booth also mistakenly refers to a book title as Faust, when that particular author wrote a book called Dr. Faustus, NOT Faust. These are two examples of this type, there are quite a few more.

Many of the images in the book have been given utterly off-base interpretations in the caption, such as when he espouses another's opinion that an animal in an artwork is a DOG, when it is obviously a CAT. This is just one example, there are a lot of others of this type.

Booth also makes an abundance of leaps of interpretation that are utterly illogical and without support given or any factual basis.

However, as a book for entertainment purposes, it does make you think about the world and many historical figures that have lived in it over time. It is thought-provoking. It is entertaining and at times humorous. There is something, in my opinion, to the autobiographical accounts of countless historical figures such as Rene Descartes, who claim visitation by supernatural entities that imparted information to them knowledge that would otherwise never have been known. There is certainly more to this reality than solid matter and what is believed to be factual by the mainstream.

All that aside, I frequently found myself smiling while reading this book, as it presented so many interesting ideas about history and those who shaped it. I especially enjoyed reading about the point of view that many biblical characters were most likely initiates into mystery schools. Booth does a great job of molding these characters into his paradigm, and making sense of bible stories that are otherwise nonsensical without it.

I enjoyed the book quite a bit for what it is: a thought-provoking tale of alternative world history. Booth's story would be so much more credible though, with just a bit of proofreading.

I cannot claim to have read this book completely. I may not even finish it. I was interested in the topic since I have already read interesting, better cited, and coherent books about Free Masonry and the Knights Templar.

What makes this book so frustrating are patterns of argument that do things like this:

[1] Claim modern science is just catching up with ancient wisdom, but no footnotes helping me read the proof on my own. For example, Google guessing on the "reality" of zodiac impacts on the physical world just lands me on links by people other than the skeptics I seek - scientists.

[2] Constantly citing the hermeneutics issues with today's Bible and its mistranslations from Hebrew - then citing the same book in question. There is a lack of footnotes detailing these issues and the various opinions around them.

[3] Matter of fact conclusions that we just arrive at without a clear thread of logic to follow. For example there was some discussion of Venus as The Serpent and the Moon coming forth to do battle with Venus to prevent evil from ruling the world. But I got so annoyed at plowing through loads of details about Venus and serpents that I lost the thread explaining how the moon fought evil. The conclusion being something like the God of the Bible is a Moon god who fights the evil (Venus) who is animal passion?

I was excited to see this book, I thought it might add on to the knowledge I acquired reading: The Symbols of Freemasonry. However, it seems more like a book by the convinced without giving the structure needed for a skeptical analysis of the material - which I think could be quite useful and interesting for all humans to digest.

Perhaps more importantly, it is a huge task and we need to rely on the author to properly shape the presentation so we can spend less time guessing about the Google outcomes - what is wheat and what is chaff?

I am no scholar, just a regular person trying to learn and understand. I do at times grapple with complex tasks in my profession and can plow through some formalized and detailed text to gain information. However, this book is not working for me. It seems neither correct by hardcore academic standards nor well flowing enough to reach regular people like myself who are shall we say wanting to be spoon fed a bit more?

The author makes clear at the beginning that this is an imaginative book that sets out to tell the secret history as understood by the multitude of mystery schools and mystery societies...and it is a history of how our consciousness may have evolved...essentially how what we believed about our consciousness evolved. It is convoluted and repetitious, but don't take it too seriously. Also remember that this is a book that comes from an Idealist perspective in a world that is heavily Materialist (Aristotle vs. Plato).

I am reading the book at the same time as I am reading Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. I recommend you do the same.

This isn't really a "Secret History of the World" in the way you probably expect. It's not about political events and behind-the-scenes machinations. It is instead a fanciful esoteric/mystical history of the evolution of consciousness, using a mind-before-matter worldview as opposed to the modern, materialistic view. I have had minimal exposure to the elaborate cosmogonies of Renaissance alchemists (what I have seen seems like an incomprehensible muddle) but Booth seems to lay it all out in a relatively accessible form. The book is very interesting and quite valuable in its way. I agree with the opening and closing lament on the inadequacy of the physical sciences to really answer the most pressing human question: "WHY?" Years ago I realized that science can only tell us HOW things work, but is completely ignorant when it comes to "WHY." Asking "why" implies motive, tacitly ascribing purpose and meaning to what science insists is an empty, soulless, meaningless cosmos. "Why" is a question science cannot ask, therefore we pretend that the question does not exist, that it is irrelevant. But "why" is humanity's most important question, and I was delighted to see this expressed in the first chapter, in almost the exact same terms I myself would have used.

It goes downhill from there. Booth tosses out strange ideas that he must have gotten from somewhere, but he is lax in identifying his sources. I appreciate being exposed to this material, and there are some ideas I'd like to follow up, but the overall effect is that this book is sloppy and unconvincing. I have read occult/mystical/speculative works that struck me with a sense of awe, as if some great Truth was being revealed ... this book just seemed silly, most of the time. Booth doesn't fire on all cylinders intellectually (like Robert Graves in "The White Goddess") or academically (like Sir James Frazer in "The Golden Bough".) Even Graham Hancock has more power to persuade ... I thought "Fingerprints of the Gods" and "Supernatural" were brilliant. (Blurbs from Hancock and Colin Wilson on the back cover prompted me to buy "The Secret History" when I found it at the bookstore.) Booth's book falls flat. It's shallow and flimsy and doesn't maintain its focus. Aside from a few moments of clarity which had me going "aha!" it doesn't give me that intuitive feeling of "truthiness" I have gotten from other authors on similar subjects.

It is also PACKED with typographical errors: misspellings and grammatical mistakes abound. The text needed to go through a few more proofreaders before it hit the press. The errors are frequent enough to be distracting.

There are copious illustrations, many of which don't relate to the text at all. They have explanatory captions which discuss other ideas not present in the chapter in which they appear. One caption refers to a picture which is not present, and one image (page 223 in the hardback edition) is identified as "The Harrowing of Hell" by Andrea Mantegna - when it obviously has Albrecht Durer's signature on it. I wonder how many mistakes I DIDN'T catch? This really reduces my willingness to trust the author.

This is not to say it isn't worth reading. I don't regret the experience at all - I was exposed to some new ideas which I will want to pursue... But honestly, if you are interested in esoterica, the occult, mysticism, alchemy and related topics, you'd be wasting your time with this book when there are much more authoritative sources available. "The Secret History" may be good for a quick, general overview of the subject - but having no idea how accurate any of the information is, I would have to advise the Seeker to avoid this one.

If you are interested in the secret history of the world, do not imagine this book will provide it. The author takes bits and pieces from wherever he feels like and weaves them together in a flagrant, almost offensively cavalier way. He says one thing in one chapter and then contradicts it in another - not in the way a Taoist would understand paradox, but in the way of someone who forgot what they said previously while spitting out ideas. Another review stated it seemed this was written in a feverish way and that is very apt.

The topics discussed are glossed over, the arguments are built by picking and choosing bits from history to weave one idea together, then throwing it away and picking and choosing other bits, or sometimes the same bits but for different reasons, to prop another false idea up. I have laughed out loud in disbelief and frustration several times while reading through this book.

There are wonderful books and tomes and topics on this subject - I would personally recommend Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions if you are looking for something that is both grounded and academic while giving rise to flights of fancy at the very same time.

This book is a fairly obvious and crass attempt to cash in on the whole DaVinci Code/Templars/Secret History theme that's been going around for the last decade or two.

I was browsing through history books one day when I came across this one. It's title is intriguing so I thought I'd see what it's all about. Now, I wish I wouldn't have wasted my time.

Granted, as I read, I wasn't all that impressed by what Mr. Booth has to say. However, that wasn't what soured me on the book. The reason I cannot recommend this book is simply that it isn't well written. In the early chapters this was brought to the fore by his repeated requests that the reader keep an open mind and not let the strangeness of the story turn you off. That kind of desperation is what turns me off. Fortunately, that fades away as the book goes on.

However, as Mr. Booth builds up his tale, it becomes more and more incomprehensible. I don't mean unbelievable. I mean incomprehensible. I was hoping to come away with some sort of understanding about an alternate view of the universe. Apart from some concept of a mineral, vegetable and animal construct of the world, I came away with nothing. Ultimately, this led to chapter after chapter of disjointed assertions and attempts to make connections to famous people and art with no attempt to make coherent arguments or provide any kind of evidence.

So, though I love to read alternate views of the world that challenge my own, this book doesn't provide enough of value even to waste time making an argument against its strange belief system and historical point-of-view. If that's all there is to secret societies, no wonder their members keep them secret.

For anyone interested in esoteric matters, mysteries, legends and many of the "is it true?" questions that haunt the world's myths and legends, this book is a must. From the world's beginnings, back in the mists of time, right through to present day, the author unfolds an ideology that many will find riveting, but equally as many will find either incomprehensible or down right unacceptable. True, some of the ideas tease the imagination and here the author warns sceptical readers to skip certain portions. For my part, I would advise them to press on. The cover copy suggests that Dan Brown may have used this as his reference guide to The Lost Symbol. I would agree, and also say that The Secret History of the World is far more intriguing and exciting than The Lost Symbol. The author delves into Freemason matters, and offers a balanced view of their not-secret secret society. But that's not the main thrust of this work. He also links many of the ideas of the world's superheroes of legend, science, the arts and literature in an incredible way. His ideas on why certain individuals have emerged in world history as charismatic forces either for good or evil are thought provoking. To say more would be to spoil the book for potential readers. My only complaint was that the book could have been double in size. The author tends to skim over areas that really begged for more explanation and I can only think this is because the author assumes the readers already have a knowledge of such matters. Fascinating topic and equally fascinating book!

This book intrigued and repelled me for a very long time.
Intrigued because it had obvious appeal of unknown,attractive subject but the covers were so gaudy,tasteless and sensationalistic that I had impression this would turn into some silly rambling about cosmic plots against everybody and everything on earth. Than after months of world traveling,this book popped out in my local bookstore and I decided this was the sign: if it follows me from South Africa to my own corner of Croatia,it is obviously looking for me.And boy,it turned out to be so interesting and thought-provoking that I gulped it in two days,promising to my self it should be re-read again more carefully.

First,author asks us to forget about scientistic approach to life and return to ancient,superstitious way of looking at the world around us,with angels,fairies,demons and nature closer to us.This was interesting enough and surely it takes some time to turn one's head around it but it works fine. Instead of going for some silly New age rambling,Black than continues to explore centuries of history and how human race searched for universal answers about meaning of life,where do we go,why are we here and afterlife. Along the way he explores myths,religions and cults,often showing amazing knowledge of the subject,throwing tantalizing informations about everything from Mandrake men to Pyramids to Solomon's temple and legends about Green man - it truly makes one's head spinning and there is nothing sensationalistic about the book.
Perhaps its author's gentle way of writing (he fits somewhere between Richard Dawkins and Graham Hancock, and this is my highest compliment) enchanted me and subject was surely fascinating,but I must admit the pleasure was also partly because at the very start I decided not to take this book literally as a gospel truth but as interesting entertainment and surely there were moments where I know this is all a bit stretch but it kept me reading nevertheless. There were also many other moments (like chapter about Cagliostro and Count de St Germain) where I literally forget to breath,so absorbed I was in the story. And the theory about life on earth (minerals-plants- animals-humans) sounds very interesting to me.

I am aware that there are probably many who had different expectations from this book and wouldn't like authors theories,but from my purely subjective point of view it turned far better than I expected and I enjoyed it very much. In fact,it must be one of the best books I have read recently!

I bought this book at borders after reading two chapters. There was a nice flow to it. It's a very easy read and some humor is actually thrown in. You have to have a complete open mind to enjoy it. I think this book is supposed to be ENJOYED.I thought it was delightful. The value is only there if you are a blank slate and you bring no personal baggage to the table. You are going on someone elses journey.Some concepts will resonate while others will seem crazy but they are just one man's ideas that he has tried to connect over the years.
Some of us aquire knowledge and try to peice things together.I see what he was trying to do. I thought some of his ideas were correct and made perfect sence because I have come to some of those conclusions myself. The vagueness in some areas is fine. He doesn't know. We don't know. A fact is only what we think we know as truth so far.I read some of the negative reviews and I thought,wow, it's not that serious.If you already feel you are an authority on certian things, this book is not for you. I may be wrong but I think the point the critics miss is that you can still think freely outside of what you know is positivley fact. Don't just close the book because you come across something you just refuse to deal with. It's a pretty harmless piece of literature. I think one critic mentioned spelling and grammer errors. I always laugh at the structure of language. The limitations. That person should read some of Ben Franklins original writings before everything was standardized. Read someones text message for that matter. Have a drink, take your shoes off, have a cigar, get in your comfy chair and enjoy this book!

Great book for history the buffs you know, but is also a great book to read regardless of your area(s) of study. The book arrived in perfect condition and shipping time was fairly accurate. Based on the feedback my cousin gave me, this order definitely deserves 5 stars.

Mark Booth's "Secret History of the World" has an imposingly grandiloquent title, and its subtitle "As Laid Down by the Secret Societies" lends it an air of authoritativeness. The title is meant to suggest that Booth is speaking on behalf of a larger organization than himself, one whose teachings constitute a valid consensus for which he is the mouth-piece and whose traditions he is merely passing along.

However, Booth's text is primarily influenced by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, and his attempt to make these teachings seem as though they are as old as the world and agreed upon by a long line of thinkers badly misrepresents what he is really up to. Booth's "teachings" are in fact a mish mash of garbled ideas and comical misinterpretations of the esoteric tradition, filled with factual errors.

Booth would have us believe that all religions agree esoterically on how the world was made, namely that mind precedes, rather than follows, matter. In the view of science, things are the other way about, for there mind becomes a disease or epiphenomenon of matter. Then he proceeds to interpret the creation myth of the Book of Genesis in terms of Rudolf Steiner's model of cosmic evolution which follows a sequence of four epochs, those of Saturn, Sun, Moon and Earth. According to Booth, the Saturn epoch corresponds to the creation of physical matter, while the Sun epoch corresponds to the creation of plants, with the Moon epoch bringing animals into being. However, as anyone who has read Steiner thoroughly knows, the Sun epoch involves the creation not of plants but animals -- especially zodiacal ones -- whereas the Moon epoch properly involves the creation of plants. So he can't even get Steiner right.

Booth draws an analogy between the human nervous system and a plant on the basis that the nervous system resembles a plant, and this is true, at least superficially. However, it is a bad analogy, since plants do not have nervous systems, and according to Steiner, the whole basis of the difference between plants and animals rests in the fact that animals are in possession of a nervous system and therefore an astral body, whereas plants do not have nervous systems and therefore also lack astral bodies (they have etheric bodies).

He makes so many factual errors along the way that it is difficult to enumerate them all. For instance, he says that the metaphor of Indra's Net of Gems can be found in the Vedas, when in fact no one who has actually bothered to read the four Vedas will attest to any such thing, for the Net of Gems is an idea that originated in the Buddhist Avatamsaka Sutra, not the Vedas. He also claims that the reason the apple is associated with the goddess Venus is because when you cut the apple open it shows a five pointed pentagram that is structurally similar to the one the planet makes in the sky (which it does) but he says that it takes 40 years for this to happen whereas in reality it takes only 8. As any good student of mythology knows, kings were killed at the end of 8 year cycles for precisely this reason.

He also says that Perseus used his shield as a mirror in order to combat the ravenous dragon that was going to attack Andromeda, but this is an embarrassing mistake, since it is well known even to people who don't know anything about Greek myth that Perseus uses his shield as a mirror to combat the Gorgon whose head he slices off, not the dragon who attacks Andromeda. He uses the head of the Gorgon to kill the dragon and turn it into stone. This is an embarrassing mistake for one to make who presumes to pass himself off as an authority on all matters occult.

I could go on, but you get the idea. The book is full of too many errors for Booth to represent anything like the kind of master of this sort of knowledge he is trying to pass himself off as. He does not have control over his material and can only be regarded as a novice in this sort of thing, at best. He wants you to believe that he has an almost Steinerian grasp of symbolism and tradition, but the real situation is of course nothing of the sort.

Booth has here written the sort of myth studies book that used to appear commonly when the field was just getting started at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It reminds me, for instance, of "Oedipus Judaicus," by William Drummond. These were books that presented the world's mythic traditions as a mish mash in which all the traditions and religions were represented as saying the same thing. The world's religious traditions do not, of course, say the same thing, not even in terms of their esoteric teachings, which differ vastly, contrary to what these sorts of gurus try to make the public believe. Try comparing Gurdjieff sometime with Rudolf Steiner and see what you come up with. Two very different sets of ideas. Which is why, of course, Steiner broke from the Theosophists represented by Madam Blavatsky and Annie Besant, because he differed from them in his teachings despite the fact that both the Theosophists and the Anthroposophists were attempting to represent "esoteric tradition as it has always been taught."

Esotericists, as I can tell you from having read many of them -- Ken Wilber, for instance, who is always so anxious to point out how everybody else is wrong so that he can reassure himself and you, the reader, that his understanding is the only time anyone in human history has ever got this stuff right -- not only frequently disagree in their attempts to represent THE esoteric tradition, but in fact, they almost never agree at all. What does that tell you? How can there be only "one esoteric tradition" represented by all the secret societies of the ages as Mark Booth would have us believe if the gurus of these traditions can't even agree among themselves on what are the basic principles of this teaching? Ego, it seems, is always at work, and most especially at work in those who, again like Ken Wilber, claim to have most thoroughly transcended its limitations through the practice of their mental jnana yoga.

In short, skip Booth's book. You won't be missing much.
--John David Ebert, author of "The New Media Invasion."

leave your brain behind kind of book. "In the ancient world the teachings of the mystery schools were guarded as closely as nuclear secrets are guarded today."

Another, they had it, I have it... and it'll cost you $16.95 to get it. PUH LEEZ.

In a genre where there is such diversity in style and content, to tackle the subject of occult influence on the history of our world is a monumental task. The scope of this book is awe inspiring and to do it with a literary style that has appeal to a broad market should, if nothing else, engender some level of respect, even from the most hardened cynic (and it is clear that there are many).

Even to the open minded skeptic, there is a need to start reading this book with the most broad of perspectives and accept that while as much context as is practically possible is given, there is a need for latitude. Given that orientation, in the early part of the book, I found my natural tendency to cynicism over-riding the intention to "allow". This book does take some time to get into high gear, but in all fairness, there is a level of ground work that does need to be set. Moreover, it requires a paradigm shift, one that apparently many readers are unable to overcome.

At the point that I gained sufficient momentum, I was gripped. It weaves a complex picture, creating a fascinating tapestry from historical underpinning into modern context. This is not a book of conspiracies, casually supported by a sprinkling of tenuous information represented as facts. It reads more along the lines of an academic text with the literary style that bridges the gap between dusty esoteric lore and a lay-persons reference. It is an accessible read, with a liberal amount of archaic drawings that are interestingly captioned, although not always referenced in the main body of the text. Do not look for a neat and tidy conclusion, the information presented stands itself for scrutiny and provokes thought in an ongoing manner. Recognising the need for many readers to expect a tidily packaged finale, the author succumbs to the temptation, albeit in a measured way.

If you are a rigid skeptic, the book is unlikely to appeal. If you are striving to gain a broader understanding of the shape of our world, and have realised that the manufactured history parroted to a gullible population does not satisfy this yearning, perhaps the time is right for a more profound insight.

This is an interesting read, especially for those who enjoy the late night Coast to Coast AM radio program and those who like something off beat.

This book is supposedly exposing some of the ancient body of arcane knowledge that many secret societies are reported to believe in. The author writes about his interest in the subject and his close relationship with a number of people who believe in this knowledge base and want to initiate him into those secret societies. But, the author does warn that indiscrimnate belief in these concepts and discussion of those beliefs could label you a mental patient in the need of professional help. He also discusses the initiation process supposedly used by many ancient secret societies--the stimulated process of transistion from one level of existence to the next.

The twists in interpreation of many old texts expand and build upon each other in each successive chapter. Early on, Genesis is interpreated that Adam and Eve where plants. As evolution continued and became more material, angels, gods and demons had less to do with creatures due to the loss of means to communicate. Legends are casted as more possible true history. The rise of human consciousness and reason shut the door for mankind to understand the 'other' realms of reality.

The author links most, if not all, of the intellectual super stars of human history with membership in secret societies and their assorted belief systems. Conspiracy theory runs amock.

You will enjoy this work if you like books like the old "Chariots of the Gods" or Graham Hancock's volumes.

The 'esoteric' material is intriguing and hard to leave alone-it is like an alluring siren call, so you have been warned about this interesting and fun read.

Often interesting, at times even inspiring, but this book suffers from a too-ambitious attempt to tie together every single religious, pseudo-religious, mythological and esoteric thread from the present day back to ancient history.

To the mundane reader this book will seem ridiculous. To the student of esoteric systems this will make perfect sense. One has to read it with the understanding that it is revealing the teachings of some of the mystery schools. There is no suggestion that anything in this book is based on science. I think it's a decent introduction to a lot of basic concepts that would be useful to anyone involved in a metaphysical enterprise like tarot reading or astrology as many of the archetypes and planetary associations in the book relate to both activities. And believe it or not these "teachings" are a part of our mundane world. I also found it interesting due to my having an interest in the history and folklore behind our modern holidays and you can find traces of their roots here.

This book is hardly based on any coherence of thought. The author has made DRAMATIC generalisation without presenting any facts or evidence. He loosely stitches up far fetching ideas and concepts about the world and history without so much as explaining it. One of my favourite quotes from the book which kind of sets the tone of the entire books irrelevance is "Modern science has confirmed that the pituitary gland behaves like an oyster " What?!? What does that even mean. Where has modern science said that, and what exactly are you quoting. Like a snake oil salesman the author reels out conspiracy nut case babble perfect for the tin foil wearing conspiracy theorist. While there is plenty of mystery in the world, you most definitely will not find it in this book. The author also makes vague references for his sources of information without ever getting into any details whatsoever.

I loved this book; the connections to all the religions in the world, mix in a bit of history...except when I read this book I took everything it was saying seriously and ended up losing my sense of reality and fantasy. Several days later in a hospital I found out that I have two possible mental disorders (I don't want to disclose which diagnoses).

Long story short, always be skeptical, don't read this if you are looking for something to believe in (religion-wise). You'll fall down a rabbit hole so deep it'll take all the kings horses and men to get you back on solid ground.

This is a great book with great graphics. The author is not asking that you need to believe the "history" he presents other than this: most of the great artists, early scientists, mathematicians, writers and leaders have been members of a few different secret societies. AND that these secret societies believe the same thing- that mind creates matter, and that there is a universal mind. AND by using different methods, access to another realm of awareness, to other realms of being, to the "spirit world" are possible. Everything else should be read like a fun and interesting alternative take on history and the progress of human consciousness. It's a wild and crazy and disconcerting and fascinating read that will have you rolling your eyes in doubt AND shaking your head in wonder. The birth of science WAS in magic. We are more than we seem, and much more than science can measure.

Caveat: Someone should have proofread this thing better- there are a lot of small errors, typos, misattributions. But mostly this book shows a curious mind and a lot of hard work.

I understand why people bash this book, its really not for everyone, quite difficult to read at times. Personally, I loved this book, definitely needs to be approached with an open mind, and prior knowledge on a lot of the topics covered is recommended but not entirely required. If conspiracy theories are your thing, this book is probably not for you, albeit the title may indicate it is. As other posters have mentioned, if you are unsure, borrow it from a library or friend. I docked one star as I felt the ending of the book was pretty rushed, and lacked a decent conclusion. Everything else I found to be fairly solid (well, as solid as the subject matter can be, that is) Reading it again for a second time, and still as engaging as my initial read.

Mark Booth would like you to believe that what he is offering here is not merely the crazed construction of his own fevered imagination but the actual REAL "secret history" of the world as handed down through the ages. This is all based on the notion that a mysterious visitor to the store where he worked, member of some unspecified secret society, took a liking to him and, considering him a potential initiate, had lengthy conversations in which he spilled numerous mind-shattering revelations. But when it came time to take that final step to become an initiate Booth backed down, realizing he would rather remain free to pursue his own Quest for Knowledge, and also get a book out of the deal.

He relies on these "insider revelations" to dispense with the troublesome need to back up anything he says with any sort of scholarly research, footnotes, or anything whatsoever. We are basically supposed to take his word that these "insider revelations" were not only real but trustworthy. Doesn't it seem odd that a genuine member of a secret society would spill the secrets of their sect to a potential initiate, BEFORE he was initiated? Isn't it sort of the whole point of secret societies, that they keep their secrets? If secret societies are as sneaky as they're cracked up to be wouldn't it seem just as likely that this fellow (if he in fact existed) might feed the author a bunch of fake material, knowing he would publish it as a book of nonsense that would throw people even further off the track? Or maybe Mr. Booth is HIMSELF some sort of Illuminati disinformation agent? Or, maybe he just made all this stuff up...

Reading the book makes for a rather uneven experience. Sizeable chunks of it are interesting and maybe even inspired. But in many, many places it's painfully obvious that the author did a little research on some subject, enough to get a superficial understanding, and then crammed it into his overall scenario. Anyone who has done much reading on Akhenaten, for example, will find his portrayal of that Pharaoh a simple-minded caricature. Elsewhere in the book he dispenses with both Neoplatonism and Gnostic Christianity, and the notion they might have any sort of philosophical depth, in one stunningly ignorant paragraph. Readers adept in other areas of knowledge will likely find other instances of ignorance or downright idiocy. The author's credibility is further undermined by basic errors of fact and dating (even a blatantly misattributed picture, on p.223 of the hardback edition, pointed out by another reviewer).

The best approach to this book is probably to drop any idea that it has anything remotely to do with reality and treat it as pure phantasmagoria. Just pretend you're reading Alice in Wonderland. I could almost imagine Lewis Carroll writing something like this, if he time-traveled to the 21st century and took a bunch of LSD. Read in this way, the book is often entertaining (though still sometimes infuriating). It is definitely inventive, as even those who despise it would have to admit. Even if the author is just making it all up he has obviously spent a great deal of time thinking over these matters and has come up with a few genuine insights, which might even strike some readers as "revelations." Alternate-history aficionados in particular are likely to find some valuable nuggets among the nonsense.

This is a writer with an incredible command of history, religion, and philosophy. Whether or not he is an initiate of a secret society matters not one bit. (Most initiates know less than the "gentiles" whom they now mock, because they are deliberately misled in all but the highest degrees, after they have proven themselves sufficiently "malleable" to their superiors.) Booth opens our eyes to a subculture that has been with us for thousands of years, hidden in plain sight in paintings, in architecture, and in some of the men who have dominated our world---for good and for evil. I strongly suspect that many of the disparaging reviewers are themselves initiates who want to dissuade ordinary folks from reading this book and thereby acquiring some understanding of the tiny minority of people who, like rats, have been gnawing at the foundations of the world for thousands of years, particularly since the advent of Christ.

I read this book from cover to cover, highlighting and tabbing items that I constantly refer back to. Having read many books about Freemasons, the Order of Death (aka 'Skull and Bones'), the Illuminati, et al, I found it refreshing to find a book that tries very hard to be objective. If the author has a political agenda, I couldn't detect it. He didn't appear to be recruiting for secret societies or their worldview, nor does he condemn. For anyone who wants to understand the nature of the teachings that were the catalyst for men as influential, yet different, as Cicero and Hitler, this is as close as you're apt to come without being thrown into a well or locked in a tomb full of snakes. For Christians especially, this is essential reading if you want to be "wise as a serpent." I would also read "Lucifer's Children" by Pastor Milan Martin.

Mark Booth has been an inspiration to many of the authors who are interested in the study of antient philosophy and the teachings of the early Mystery Schools.
He inspired me with his conversation, his editorial guidance and his skill in untangling a narrative thread.
I was delighted when I found out he was writing his own views on the science of the human spirit and when I received a pre-release copy I throughly enjoying reading it.
His opening chapters pose exactly the questions which drive me to write, and I have enjoyed reading the carefully crafted revelations of Booth's own views on what makes us human.
He asks not how we came to be here, but why?

Essential but definitely not for mainstream readers (nor is this review). The book should carry a big caution, maybe several: major withholdings reduce accuracy to about 50% though it could have been much higher.

Based on my own intensive research since the early 1990s - both objective and experiential - I can confirm that this book offers an amazing amount of accurate information on the esoteric and occult that is not usually made available to us, the masses - and certainly never before like this, as an overview of esoteric history almost since emergence, as opposed to a few intriguing droppings here and there.

The author appears to have been fed info by very knowledgeable people. Unfortunately, whilst those adepts could have made the book about 80% accurate, given the enormous half-truths and the critical information withheld, it is only at a 50% level, which makes it ultimately deeply misleading.

The question must arise: why should any of the secret history be made so freely available to the public in this way - at this time? The book also states "In the course of this history Saturn [aka Satan] returns at different times and in different guises to pursue his aim of mummifying humanity and squeezing the life out of it. At the end of this history we will also see that his most decisive intervention, an event long predicted by the secret societies, is expected to take place shortly." Well, duh, since "they" love death (not their own, of course).

Those who accept that the book has valuable truths to offer would benefit from knowing that just one of the major "unacknowledged elephants in the room" is the feminine principle: emotions, desire, the Will of God. Although there are brief references in this book to Mother Earth and to goddesses, the secret history is really all about a hidden agenda against the feminine aspect of Creation. Missing, particularly in its spare account of the very beginning of Creation, is the vital truth of the intention to extinguish the emotional realm.

At the beginning of this universe, the Female Force contracted or collapsed. As a result, the feminine, emotional side of Creation has been judged against from the very beginning, with the intention of "doing just fine" without it. The problems in this creation are a result of the banishment of feminine energy yet there is an aspect of the feminine energy which is trying to redeem Mankind

How could this major point be left out of a secret history, when everything that has happened since then flows from it? When you know that, you can begin, by reading between the lines (so to speak), to perceive the diabolical intentions behind this book.

One of the few places where an indication of this murderous purpose is set out clearly is in an early part of the book which refers to Saturn/Satan's attempt to kill the Mother of All Living. (Throughout, the book conflates this original Mother of All Living - the true co-creator - with Isis, calling both "Mother Goddess" but Isis is linked to Lucifer, whom too many have tried to put in the place of God.)

Another caution: cunningly, in the few places where specific esoteric techniques are explained, they are either dangerous or ineffective.

If you really are seeking the "true history of the world" it might also be worth taking a look at Michael Tsarion, a revisionist historian who offers a huge body of work on the real story of mankind, much of which can be listened to for free on youtube. Shannon Dorey's 3 books on the Nummo, starting with the "Master of Speech" are also fantastic introductions to what may be the true story of mankind. Also Frank O'Collins' University of Ucadia provides a revisionist history of humans that he has spent decades working on. Note that I am not saying they have the right version/s, I am just asking: what if it was the way they say it was, rather than the way we were taught in school?

Seems, like a lot of people have left reviews bashing this book. Apparently, some people thought this was some sort of encyclopedia or special "secret book". A title is a title and more than often they are made to catch the readers attention and to sell copies....go figure. I am currently on page 303. I have to be one hundred percent honest and say I LOVE this book. It actually makes me think. I don't expect that everything he is stating to be true or accurate. I also don't expect someone that is writing a book to always have footnotes. Even if he referenced another book that references another book does it make it true or does it just make someone feel better that its an actual "fact"? Maybe I'm some sort of schizo lunatic but I like the style in which he writes. My mind is constantly turning from one subject to the next so the book is keeping me well entertained. I suppose that when I am reading and I think "I'm not sure about that?" or "These facts seem a little out of line." I immediately research them. I feel like he has done an excellent job of putting an overwhelming amount of information into one book that you will not hear about on a daily or even yearly basis discussed in the mainstream. The best thing I could recommend for anyone is to simply read a 3 page exert from this book that is sure to be found online. I guarantee within any 3 of the various pages you can determine "Do I even understand what this author is talking about?" "Do I like the way he writes?" "Do I find this intersting?" If you like even 3 pages in this book you will like the whole thing.

The trouble with writing about such subjects is that there ARE no hard sources to quote from. Almost universally, such organizations have maintained fairly tight secrecy, tight security, and tight-lipped silence, and therefore the rather obsessive process of providing scholarly references is not much available. Theosophy broke the wall of secrecy in the 19th century, and in fact the two most important Theosophical books, "Isis Unveiled" and "The Secret Doctrine", together constitute a giant reference work for the ages-long hidden history of the Mysteries. But of course the whole university business of quoting, crediting, referencing and verifying is again necessarily short-circuited. How then does an author gain such knowledge? Well that's the whole thing -- you have to read such books on their own terms, without applying your own standards to them, and then you can go ahead and begin the lifetime-long process of remembering, comparing, cross-referencing, noting harmonies, finding keywords, and reading between the lines. A huge mental structure has to be built up before it is even possible to do such finer detective work. What you ultimately find out is your own possession, and sharing it with someone else may or may not be possible, but justifying it to a university-trained scholar would simply be an exercise in futility. Each author displays a different degree of comprehension and a different level of credibility, some better, some worse, in writing about these things, and each reader has a different degree of intuitive sensitivity to what is presented.

Hi, i am almost finished reading this book, and i got to say this book is good but a little bit bland. However it has vast knowledge instilled, but you got to have a present understanding of the world's history to begin with and some spiritual understanding as well. I am not saying about religion believes but a rather spiritual aspect from Hindu or Buddhism or Abraham'a religion basic understanding. Even Astrology is also essential. i would rather warn that this book is not intended to light minded as its easy to toss it away. However it will make you dig more resources to know about the characters of history explain here.. So i would not suggest this book if u want to know secret 'history' without knowing normal history. This is an exelent read for people who has basic knowledge in this kind of genre. By the way a note of caution, reading this inspired by Dan Brown's work will leave you at a lost..because there is no riddle's or chases involved.

My daughter bought me this book, knowing I was interested in history. Apparently she didn't look too closely at the subject matter, or perhaps she would have saved her money.

This book is 400 pages of pure, unadulterated BS, and poorly written BS at that. Each chapter is a string of random, disconnected thoughts, unsupported statements and "theories", which run the gamut from ridiculous to ... well, ridiculous.

I should have heeded the warning in the first chapter that indicated that anyone with a scientific viewpoint of the world probably shouldn't be reading this book, but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. Big mistake!

In truth, I gave up after about 150 pages of this nonsense. Unless you've got a lot of time and money to waste, don't bother buying this book. I'm donating mine to the library, although I hope there's nobody around here who's crazy enough to waste their time reading it.