The Secret History of the World [Paperback]

Jonathan Black (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Quercus Books (2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1847243401
• ISBN-13: 978-1847243409
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #626,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pure Phantasmagoria, July 23, 2011

By 

Muttley - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret History of the World (Paperback)

"Jonathan Black," a.k.a. 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 often 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 a few nuggets among the nonsense.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Read, January 10, 2011

By 

Fiona Ingram "Fiona Ingram, Author" (Johannesburg, South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret History of the World (Paperback)

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!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You have to know more before reading this., November 17, 2010

By 

Mangalam - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret History of the World (Paperback)

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.