The Secret History of the World: As Laid Down by the Secret Societies [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

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 millennium old. Really? You and who else? Most scholars pinpoint its construction to the second or third millennium 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 disappoints. Booth can't 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 Knights Templar 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 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 enjoyed this book. 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. Also, 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.

Note: Do yourself a favor and 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^2: 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 esoterica, 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 can't blame you for feeling annoyed.

If Booth's work has stimulated your interest in seeking out the truth of the world, great, but you 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 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. You don't want New Age; you want Old Age, something that's been around for a long time and where the 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.

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!!

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...

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