Customer Reviews

The Secret History of the World: As Laid Down by the Secret Societies

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

I picked this book up on a whim. As a student of esoteric philosophy, I have to say that books such as this don't pop up often and suddenly there it was at the front of my local chain bookstore. I started plowing through it, curious to see something like this in the mainstream, but my eagerness quickly vanished, and for several reasons.

Booth admits that he is not an initiate of any of the societies he writes about because then he would be sworn to secrecy. So is the assumption that he learned all these heavily-guarded ancient secrets from years of self-study? How would he know any of these ideas are accurate? Are these actual beliefs of secret societies and mystery schools (and if so, which ones), or Booth's own beliefs based on his personal research? He doesn't specify.

There are no footnotes. None. Nada. Any college student would be turned out on their ear if they ever tried handing in a thesis looking like this. Booth makes a lot of fantastical claims and doesn't even try to show where he got the information to back up his ideas - and they're pretty wild ideas. I won't even call them theories, as so far it looks like the only person who's (publicly) spouting them is Booth, and an idea isn't a theory until it's gotten sufficient consideration and acceptance by one's academic peers. At one point, Booth hints that the Great Sphinx at Giza is over ten millennia old. Really? You and who else? Most scholars pinpoint its construction to the second or third millenium BCE. Add to this numerous spelling mistakes, starting from the introduction.

Little errors don't bug me in and of themselves. But little errors in large amounts immediately make me question all the information I'm getting. If you can't even write a cohesive sentence without spelling errors and you tell me a basic historical fact is incorrect (and don't bother to cite a source), why in the world should I be inclined to believe anything you say? In order to sell an idea, a writer has to gain the trust of his audience and make himself seem smart and believable. At this, Booth fails.

The writing is atrocious. Booth can not organize a coherent thought. Ideas are plastered on the page at random, sometimes in short, choppy paragraphs, and veer off on tangents that are barely connected by a thread. At one point, Booth states that humanity started as plant-like humanoid creatures with soft, waxy bodies before we solidified into bone and flesh, who reproduced asexually and who sported lamps from their foreheads to connect psychically to other worlds. This is quite an assertion, given the ample body of research supporting the theory that we share a common ape-like ancestor with today's apes. Booth himself states this and asks, so why would anyone believe such a fantastic story as one I've described above?

It sounds like the perfect setup. I waited for Booth to explain himself. Indeed, why SHOULD I believe something so farfetched?

But Booth doesn't explain himself. That is literally the final sentence of one chapter, and the next continues on to another topic. That's it?

I'm not sure who is the intended audience. If you're a student of occultism, you may see some familiar ideas. Others may strike you as downright bizarre, and unfortunately the lack of sources forbids you the ability to dig deeper and figure out where these ideas are from or if Booth just pulled them out of some orifice. If you're a scientist, a theologian or a historian, you're going to have a difficult time swallowing any of it. If you're interested in the history of secret societies, don't bother, as this is purely the history of the world as they allegedly see it, not a history of the Templars or Rosicrucians or Illuminati themselves. If you're a conspiracy theorist, you may like this.

If you're genuinely interested in the teachings of these societies and schools, you'd have better results going straight to the source and checking out the works of initiates such as Israel Regardie, Dion Fortune, Alice Bailey, Aleister Crowley (his earlier work i.e. "777 and other Qabalistic Writings"), Eliphas Levi, C. G. Jung, Joseph Campbell, Gareth Knight, Hermes Trismegistus and yes, Rudolf Steiner. All of these author's books are easily available on Amazon.

If Booth could write better, organize his thoughts better, be able to cite, I may have taken this book a little more seriously. As it is, I got about halfway through and then donated it to my local library. Wish I'd gotten it there instead of paying for it.

Note: The author is listed as Mark Booth on American copies of this book but Jonathan Black in the UK. I don't understand the disconnect, but I've given up on figuring out this man's logic.

Note^2: Do yourself a favor and do a search for the editorial reviews cited at the top of this book's Amazon profile. The chosen quotes sound like they're wild about this book, but whoever pulled these quotes deliberately chose ones that completely misrepresent what the reviewer meant. A quick Google search shows that the reviewers at Salon and San Francisco Gate find Booth's work to be ludicrous and terribly-written. I can't access Kirkus Reviews as I don't have a subscription, but I imagine the editorial review from Kirkus was blatantly misconstrued as well.

Note^3: Based on the laudatory reviews here and in the comments to my own review, I feel compelled to state something that should be obvious: Booth's book is NOT esotericism, or occultism, or a secret history. Booth admits from the start that he's not initiated in any order, therefore he has no real insider knowledge and can't back up anything he says. This lack of training shows in the poor quality of this book. In short, you could politely say that Booth's work is poorly-written fiction. Evidently a number of people enjoy this, and more power to you if you do. If you don't, and resent being misled by a clever but inaccurate marketing campaign, I certainly can't blame you for feeling annoyed.

If Booth's work has stimulated your interest in seeking out the truth of the world, I can't say that's a bad thing, but you definitely deserve more than what Booth's giving you. To that end, you'd do better to invest your time and money in one or both of the following: a) study in a mystery school, and/or b) begin reading the works of the authors I've mentioned above. The latter were ACTUAL initiates in a REAL mystery school tradition. They did the heavy lifting that comes with spiritual training. This fact shows in the excellent quality of work they left behind to help other seekers on the path to wisdom. It's no coincidence that many famous people were/are initiates - when you know and attain mastery over yourself, when you understand on an experiential level your gifts, when you know how to rectify your weaknesses, success just flows. You become an active creator in your universe instead of getting dragged with the tide.

To find a good mystery school, it's important to consider lineage. Remember, you don't want New Age; you want Old Age, something that's been around for a long time and whose teachings are accurate, unbroken and true i.e. NOT made up. There's quality in lineage. If a tool has been working for people for 3,000 years, you know it will work for you, too. You also don't want gurus - any teacher worth his salt should encourage his students to make their own choices and learn from their mistakes. A good spiritual master will tell you that she, too, is a fallible human, and that you, too, can attain mastery. In short, a quality spiritual teacher doesn't want you worshiping him ... he wants to see you find your strength and attain greatness. This is where true empowerment lies. I hope this helps you on your journey, wherever it takes you.

What a frustrating and ultimately useless book. I enjoy exposes on forgotten areas of history, on complex conspiracies, and particularly on ancient religion and mythology. So this book promised much, a "Secret Teaching Of All Ages" for a new millennium. Ultimately though it delivered little, spitting out addle-headed supposition after supposition - each presented as fact - with nothing to back any of them up. As others have said, it's most tempting to read the book as a parody, but of what? Or whom? Because author Booth seems dead earnest throughout.

Booth starts off fairly strong, with a plea for the reader to try to see the world in a different light, as the ancients might have seen it. This is a worthy request, and one well worth attempting. Also, his recounting of some of the more forgotten historiographers (ie Berossos) is interesting. This however is because Booth excels at exploiting the murkier areas of history. The less that's known about a city, a person, a structure, whatever, the more free Booth is to expound at length on its "secret" history - with of course nothing to back up his claim. Hence, the Sphinx was created as a monument to when the four dimensions came into being. Hence, Herodotus was an initiate who knew the true history of mankind (that we are descended from plantlike beings, according to Booth). Hence, it's all crap and it's all easily disproven.

What's most frustrating is that Booth wants it both ways. Early on he suggests that Jesus did not exist (at least as Christians imagine him), and that literal-minded Christians should stop reading if they're easily offended. Now this I could get behind; I myself don't even believe in Jeebus, as Homer J. Simpson once said. But later on Booth wants to have it the other way: Jesus DID exist, and he was just as perfect as depicted in the gospels; not due to his facile son-of-Yahweh origins, but because he was the latest harbinger of the true god, the latest in a line of succession of gods who have come to earth to set things straight. The Jesus stuff gets even more muddled. For example, to contrast Jesus's "new" way of thinking (which earlier in the book Booth claims was actually pieced together from Socrates and Pythagoras; again, having it both ways) with the soon-to-be-replaced "old" way of thinking in the ancient world, Booth compares some sayings of Jesus with some sayings of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. With Jesus providing positive messages, Aurelius caught up in "depression." But the simple fact Booth fails to mention: Marcus Aurelius lived about 150 years AFTER the time in which Jesus is supposed to have lived!

Things get downright stupid as the "Secret History" moves into the Middle Ages. Because here Booth claims that "true love" did not exist until Medieval times! That's right, the era in which eviscerations were public entertainment, priests sold forgiveness to the highest bidder, and sex was the work of the devil, was the era which saw the first appearance of true love. Any reader of the classics will know this is bull. And Booth does attempt to skirt over it; he gives ancient poet Sappho as an example, stating that even though her well-known poems SEEM to be about true love, they're really more concerned with physical love. No, true love was brand-new to the human experience sometime around the 1100s CE. That anyone could present something so idiotic is baffling. Again, maybe it all really IS a parody.

I'll give you one example of how Booth so often misleads his reader. Around page 94 of the hardback (which I don't have in front of me at the moment) there's a neat little illustration of an ancient statue: a wavy-haired being with a vacant expression and crab pincers jutting from his forehead. Booth identifies this illustration as being of "The Green Man," a favorite subject of fringe scholars. If you check the image credits at the back of the book, this illustration is one of the many which are identified as being from "the author's collection." Meaning, no attestation to where Booth took it from. This is a clever little trick Booth plays throughout the book, covering up where his images are from, so he can claim they represent whatever he intends. So, this "Green Man" illustration. I happen to know that it's taken from James Morgan Pryse's 1910 treatise "The Restored New Testament;" Pryse himself took the illustration from "Specimens of Antient Sculpture," published in London in 1802 by the Dilettanti Society. Now, Pryse claimed the illustration was of "The Mystic Dionysos," with those pincers representing the constellation of Cancer, the dewlap ears representing the Ram, and etc. It's apparent Pryse based his claim off of the illustration, and that he never saw the actual statue, because do you know what this statue - which Booth claims was the Green Man and Pryse claimed was the Mystic Dionysos - is actually of? The sea god Triton. It's a shattered bust which was part of a group commissioned for Emperor Commodus's apotheosis around 191 CE. Maybe you've seen that famous bust of Commodus, where he's a pumped-up Hercules look-alike with a lion's head draped over his own. This statue of Triton stood beside it, and it features none of the things the fantasy-prone original artist depicted in "Specimens of Antient Sculpture," no pincers on its forehead, no dewlap ears. It's anyone's guess why that illustrator decided to add these spurious attributes (it's possible he just got creative when depicting the statue's wavy hair), but otherwise his illustration looks exactly like Triton; search online for "Triton right Musei Capitolini MC1121.jpg," compare that image with the illustration in your copy of "The Secret History," and you'll see they're one and the same. And you'll also see, right before your eyes, how Booth has mislead you into believing something that's not true.

So if Booth is misleading you about something so trivial, why trust him with something more grand...something like, say, the "secret history" of the world?

To understand this book it is necessary a couple of things. First an understanding that this book is not for everybody and that it cannot be understood by everybody. Second, you cannot grasp this book without having yourself immersed in occultism and having been a member of a secret society or western mystery schools (Just type this in google and you will find out that there are many). Third, at the beginning the book Mr. Booth invites you to take part on an IMAGINATIVE exercise. Fourth, in the academic study of religion there are actually two types of histories considered; the secular or academic history, which is based on actual events that happened and can be proven scientifically through archeology; and sacred history, which takes as true and factual the events that are exposed in the sacred books like the Bible (Old and New testament) and the Koran among many others, which normally form the basis of faith, believes and dogmas of the followers. This book presents a third, subjective and related more to the evolution of our consciousness, which have been presented in secret societies or passed down as mysteries or mythology through the ages.
I will tell you that this book has nothing to do with conspiracy theories but that some of its contents may be misunderstood as such when in fact certain stories are used to present or represent certain ideas exposed in the western mystery traditions. Please note that western mystery traditions are concerned with direct spiritual experiences of reality and of a supreme being, this books talks about this too. Do not expect techniques or guidance on practices, but do expect hints on where to further research all through the book. As an academic I understand his lack of citations of sources as you would find in scientific research but this book is not an academic book. It is a "further research on your own" carefully compiled book.
As you read through the book you will realize that it is deeply inmersed in Rudolf Steiner ideas but without being one of the blindly followers of anthroposophy. But it is also seem that Steiner didn't created all of his ideas on his own and that you can find individuals that have exposed similar ideas to his way before his time and if you further research you will find that these also got their ideas from other individuals before their time also. It is this chain of ideas and of direct spiritual experiences that have weaved a thread, subtle, through history which we may seem in mysticism, magick, occultism, and western mystery tradition.

This is an excellent book and it will turn into an underground classic, as many really important books do, until society is ready again for its ideas. I hope that this review will help you make an informed decision. This is not a beginners book, you cannot simply pick it up at the airport and hope you will comprehend it. It takes time and previous knowledge to make it worth you time. For those prepared, enjoy, and happy researching!!

All the reviews which pan this book are right. There are inconsistencies in the text and the book is chock full of ideas with not one footnote. So what? This book attempts to recreate human history from what the author terms an "idealist" perspective. I would prefer to call it an "enlightened" perspective. The world is dreamstuff and human history is part of the dream. The human sense of ego self is a relatively new phenomenon in the progression of the dream. Booth spins Jung, Plato, Jesus, Buddha, Newton, and countless other thinkers into a magical souffle which is generously sprinkled with "Ah-Ha's" too numerous to count.

If you are looking for an intellectual history tome with lots of footnotes to ignore, look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you are reasonably well read and want to sit down to play with someone who can make the lego blocks of the mind into some outrageously bold structures, this is the book for you.

I can't comment on the accuracy of this books' claims but it is still a GREAT READ. It presents a fascinating esoteric theory of history that is crammed with interesting and obscure historical figures and many illustrations. This book serves as a wonderful jumping off point for learning about many and diverse characters in history that you won't come accross in mainstream media or history texts. For me it's easy to suspend judgement regarding it's 'truth' and just enjoy the fascinating trip. I can't think of any reason other than intellectual snobbery or knee-jerk zealoutry that would keep someone from reading and enjoying this book...pick it up! It's definitely mind-expanding...

What Mr. Booth does is combine all the major religions and the ancient civilizations into one, humanized, spiritual existence. His genesis story, running parallel with scientific theory, was truly amazing. Instead of prophesying about one righteous ideology, Booth shows the reader that all are alike. Whereas our ancient history takes us to the Egyptians and Sumerians, where did their ancient history take them? This is what the author wants us to think about. How did they created their myths and why? How those myths have been infused into modern religion. Once we can see this evolution will be able to see the greater existence of our being.

Some people have given the author four stars for lack of citation, other have roundly criticized him for this same thing. I disagree and challenge anyone to review and read what the author lists as his sources. There is no doubt that the author has spent more than two decades researching the material for THIS book. In my opinion, some dissertations lack the level of research and dedication Mr. Booth has spent in preparation.

I do have one small criticism. While I like the narrative, at times I felt the author was too hesitant to divulge either his true intentions, or the true intentions of what was meant. Like a prize fighter who takes down his opponents while sitting on the bench, at times I wanted Mr. Booth to get in the ring and knock someone out. He takes a step in that direction near the end of the book, but I believe he could have done so throughout. An example would be his discussion of the Indian mystery schools and Sufism. While he mentions that "it has been observed", has he - the author - ever observed what he's describing? Has he seen a mystic stop his heart from beating or lower his blood pressure on command, or become invisible? Has he ever personally seen these feats of true spiritualism as claimed? I took what Mr. Booth has said, but now I want to more about him, have his experiences influenced his work. I know he was offered initiaion, but I would love to know more of his friend who did the offering. Aside from this personal fascination, I would recommend this to anyone interested in a spiritual examination of our human existence.

I stumbled upon this book at Barnes and Nobles. It introduced me to ideas I have never heard of before, important ideas such as the mind before matter universe. It also came at spirituality from a historical point of view which I had never experienced before in a book. Maybe there are flaws in Booth's research or disagreements over technical points but overall, I believe he is trying to create a consciousness and curiosity in readers which I believe he succeeds in doing. This is not a book about conspiracy theories as one would think of conspiracy theories. He does not spend a lot of time on the Illuminati etc. This is just an overview of what certain historical people have believed. This theme gets repetitious and I wish the information in the book was presented a little less jumbled. I feel it was probably published too soon, like if they would have spent more time editing and revising it, the book would have been better. I am giving it four stars based on the book's ability to make me think in a different light and because I appreciate the author's attempt to take on such an encompassing task as recounting the world's history from a completely different point of view.

When you're taking flak that means you're over the target.

The fact there are so many negative reviews on this work gives me pause. That usually means there's something there that some or many don't want you accessing. The 'negative' reviews by mainstream 'newswhores' as I love to call them only heightens my suspicions. They've been lying to me all my life. I know because I went to college to be one.

Not being one to blindly believe 'any' book or article I read or any 'expert' as presented to me by mainstream media, I don't look as Booth as someone to trust blindly either.

I bought this book almost on a whim, brand new, which I rarely do, because it seemed to have a lot of names, events, beliefs that I hadn't seen before. I thought it might be a good starting point to research these issues further.

I've been accused of being a 'conspiracy theorist' in the past, simply because I know better than to blindly believe whatever the mainstream is trying to spoon feed me. But I bought this book not because of any political beliefs but because I'm looking at the 'esoteric' for another project and thought it might give me directions that I hadn't noticed before. Indeed it did.

About two days ago I finished the paperback version, except for the pages of notes in the back, and except for the numerous notes I took that I may someday get an opportunity to check or delve into. If one third of what Booth claims a large number of the 'thinking' and famous people of the past and present believed is true, it's a much stranger world than I realized. And I'm accustomed to strange.

That's how I looked at it from the beginning, he's alleging these beliefs, no stranger in many ways than many held by other ancient religions or the modern religions of 'evolution' and collectivism, formed more than an integral part of our history, if I understood him correctly on one level. There are several levels to this, and he could have done a much clearer job of presenting much of it.

My advice is to pick up a copy at the bookstore or library and see if it's for you. If not go back to whatever comfortable set of mythologies provide you the mental glue you need to get through the day. That's what most of us do anyway.

As a Minister and a 32 degree Freemason I found this book informative and fascinating. I think any serious students of Religion, History and Philosophy
will be interested in the Author's conclusions.It could also be a valuable guide
on your own spiritual journey if read along with A Course in Miracles and
anything by Joseph Campbell.Just, maybe, it is all a dream and as the Author says,
"We will realize that,although we have believed ourselves to be awake, we have
actually been asleep." Hum...I think the Buddha came to the same discovery.

I am finding the book a worthwhile read. I think many of the negative reviews are due to the fact that people are only able to accept materialistic evidence that something is true. Such as a fossil or carbon dating.
However, Booth is relying to a large degree on uncovering of unexplainable coincidences and correspondences between mythologies. It is a platonic or gnostic top-down approach to logical proofs rather than an Aristotlean bottom up approach. As above below, a mind before matter approach.
It is probable that he made some mistakes as until both bottom up and top down logic can meet in the middle, there will be inaccuracies. Even if one were to have ready access to all the facts in the universe, that does not mean that one would be capable of discerning the underlying causes or meaning or purpose. And vice versa, even with an eternal souce of wisdom of universal causes and purpose, the form taken by underlying manifestations and events would still not not be clear. Because an infinite alignment of material manifestations would be possible to express any given divine truth or principle.
So while I did not necessarily agree with all his explanations, this book has the virtue of turning our gaze to the heavens and asking the important questions. Sometimes his gaze upwards may be a bit out of focus. And it is clear that Booth does not have knowldedge of every event ever taken place. But, in my view, he asks the right questions, he is certainly thoughtful enough, and appears to have done considerable research.
If you are looking for an irrefutable source to answer all your questions for you, look elsewhere.This book is merely one of many keys you will need to unlock for yourself the matrix. However, if you wish to brainstorm a vastly rich and reasonably coherent source of perspectives to enhance your world view, this is your book. A must for seekers.