In this groundbreaking new work, Booth embarks on an enthralling intellectual tour of the worlds secret histories. Starting from a dangerous premis...
read full description
reviews
Feb 18, 2011
Bird Brian
rated it: 
Billy Joel has a song, We Didn't Start the Fire. The lyrics are a bunch of disjointed words and short phrases, which evoke many images in rapid succession. Here’s a taste of it:
Now imagine instead of a 3-4 minute song, it’s a 400 page book. Then further imagine More...
♫♫ Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio ♫♫♫
♫Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe…♫♫
Now imagine instead of a 3-4 minute song, it’s a 400 page book. Then further imagine More...
9 comments
like
(15 people liked it)
Nov 20, 2011
Bruce
rated it: 
First, let me go out on a limb and say this book has helped me become more awakened. Thus, 5 stars.
But this is a very narrow 5 stars-- I think the audience who would really appreciate this book is quite small.
First, if you are a science religionist, meaning, you are not interested in entertaining any world views contrary to your scientific beliefs, you will not like this book. It is about an alternate way of looking at the world, an alternate mode of consciouness than t More...
But this is a very narrow 5 stars-- I think the audience who would really appreciate this book is quite small.
First, if you are a science religionist, meaning, you are not interested in entertaining any world views contrary to your scientific beliefs, you will not like this book. It is about an alternate way of looking at the world, an alternate mode of consciouness than t More...
4 comments
like
(5 people liked it)
Jun 18, 2008
Andy
rated it: 
I tried to like this book, I really did. Maybe it gets better later, but I can only take so much. I tried to finish it, but the first 100+ pages simply follow the same formula over & over:
1) Describe part of human evolution as seen by secret societies.
2) Fail to explain or back up exactly what was just described.
3) Explain how mind-blowing what was just described is.
4) Point out that ancient man perceived the world differently from us and therefore was totally cool More...
1) Describe part of human evolution as seen by secret societies.
2) Fail to explain or back up exactly what was just described.
3) Explain how mind-blowing what was just described is.
4) Point out that ancient man perceived the world differently from us and therefore was totally cool More...
Apr 07, 2008
Gabriel
rated it:
This book looks amazing right? I mean how could you go wrong?
Actually it was almost unreadable. Mr. Booth contends that the universe (mineral, plant, animal, human) was created by the "cosmic mind" which imagined these things into existence. Apparently humans were all one vegetable before "the fall", and are now striving to reconnect with our vegetable selves and the greater conscience of the cosmic mind. This began with Adam and went through the Egyptians and has since More...
Actually it was almost unreadable. Mr. Booth contends that the universe (mineral, plant, animal, human) was created by the "cosmic mind" which imagined these things into existence. Apparently humans were all one vegetable before "the fall", and are now striving to reconnect with our vegetable selves and the greater conscience of the cosmic mind. This began with Adam and went through the Egyptians and has since More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 22, 2011
Mandy
rated it: 
It's a trip through a very strange history, a history you've probably never heard. Before you condemn the book, I urge you to take the author's advice in the beginning of the book: read this with a totally open mind and assume for the sake of debate that you've only heard one side of history. If you do that, the book will open your mind even more.
Booth isn't necessarily telling you that this book is really how history happened in a literal sense. He's just giving you another side - More...
Booth isn't necessarily telling you that this book is really how history happened in a literal sense. He's just giving you another side - More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 27, 2011
Troy
rated it:
It's probably too much to ask an author to be an objective historian on the subject of esoteric philosphy, the occult, and the presence of a spiritual plane. But it's certainly not too much to ask him to not make italicized emphasis on essentially nothing, as if it were proof, or to make references to events (the simultaneous crucifiction of Satan incarnate in South America with that of Jesus) without any reference to really what he's talking about. In that sense, the book is annoying, in that
More...
Mar 20, 2009
Michael
rated it:
I find books about what people thought at various periods in the past fascinating; it explains a lot about thier behavior and why they did the things they did. Mark Booth's book, while not the comprehensive tome that Manley Hall's opus is, is a good primer on those views that were forced either by prosecution or ostracism to be kept underground. Consider this a good introduction and backstory to all those post-da Vinci Code historical thrillers. It is, nonetheless, wise to keep tongue firmly
More...
Dec 06, 2009
George
rated it: 
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, place
More...
4 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 02, 2011
David
rated it:
This book is a serious and non-fictional exploration of the esoteric traditions that have shaped the modern world. It will, of course, find fans in the conspiracy theorists and among the aficiandos of the secret societies, but ultimately, it is a book that explores the hostorical traditions and tries to re-normalize them to a their origins. While the author purports to have intimate knowledge of the societies, most of what is written is available through exploration of manuscripts and in stacks
More...
Aug 11, 2011
Rick
rated it:
I'm always suspicious of books that don't footnote sources, though I'm glad the author at least provided a bibliography. Interestingly enough, people professing to be authorities on esoteric subjects without academic credentials, like Mark Booth, tend to come across as condescending and haughty. On the other hand, it is a work which also makes one think, drawing odd correlations and propounding bizarre interpretations. One always wonders whether facts regarding secret organizations can ever b
More...
May 16, 2010
George
rated it:
This book was very unique. Booth seems to have done his research and reported the facts as they are seen by adherents to the world's secret societies. Some of the pieces do fit together into a logical and cohesive history, if you suspend your disbelief.
My greatest question is whether or not the secret societies themselves believe these tales or is Booth just representing allegory as fact?
If you can open your mind to possibilities that would usually be called impossible or yo More...
My greatest question is whether or not the secret societies themselves believe these tales or is Booth just representing allegory as fact?
If you can open your mind to possibilities that would usually be called impossible or yo More...
Sep 22, 2009
Jim
rated it:
Where to even begin with this book? The Secret History of the World: As Laid Down by the Secret Societies by author Mark Booth is every bit as ludicrous as the title sounds. That being said, there are moments of genuinely great writing and profoundly interesting ideas. Booth sabotages himself with far too many obscure references and endless name-dropping. And when I say endless name-dropping, I cannot over-exaggerate the sheer quantity Booth rambles on with.
Criticisms aside, I en More...
Criticisms aside, I en More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Oct 28, 2008
Greg
rated it:
I have read some interesting and far out things in my time. To the authors credit it would seem as if he wanted us to think about the ideas within the pages as a mental exercise. This book is not for the witless.
Personally I'm a causality person. Action begets Reaction. However spirituality is somewhat of a study of mine. I rather enjoy the code breaking involved in the esoteric metaphors and allegories of things like Alchemy, Astronomy and Religion. I also believe I have a good ey More...
Personally I'm a causality person. Action begets Reaction. However spirituality is somewhat of a study of mine. I rather enjoy the code breaking involved in the esoteric metaphors and allegories of things like Alchemy, Astronomy and Religion. I also believe I have a good ey More...
Sep 11, 2010
Phinehas
rated it:
I couldn't decide whether to give this book two or four stars so I compromised and gave it three. It's kind of stupid, i.e. The author believes that ancient humans had fleshy appendages growing out of the middle of their foreheads, but it's also kind of awesome, i.e. the author believes ancient humans had fleshy appendages growing out of the middle of their foreheads.
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Feb 04, 2010
Lee
rated it:
It was kinda meh. I thought, from reading the title, it would be a history of various secret societies, or the trouble that has been blamed on them. It turned out to be a history of **everything**, from Creation onwards, as someone "initiated into the mysteries" would have learned it from the ancients.
At least, that's as far as I got. It was somewhat vague, in that one piece of data would be brought up, then linked to an ancient myth, and then "revealed" as h More...
At least, that's as far as I got. It was somewhat vague, in that one piece of data would be brought up, then linked to an ancient myth, and then "revealed" as h More...
Mar 21, 2009
David
rated it:
It's not often that an author allows Americans to see the world through someone else's eyes, but this is exactly what Mark Booth does in The Secret History of the World. It is a fascinating look at knowledge that does not show up in the American curriculums of institutions of learning
Mar 06, 2008
Chris
rated it:
Twenty pages in, I thought I was in the presence of greatness. Was this a book of the same magnitude as Robert Anton Wilson's Cosmic Trigger? By the end of the book, however, I was unsure if I had been bamboozled by a train-wreck of rumor, hyperbole, swagger, poor scholarship and obscurantism. Booth's anti-materialist, anti-empiricist stance is at odds with almost everything written since the Scientific Revolution brought about by Sir Francis Bacon and therefore requires the patience and stamina
More...
Jun 26, 2011
Lindsey
rated it:
Provided amusing and thought-provoking ideas. However, it felt as if Booth was trying to disprove one set of religous beliefs by passionately explaining others. Enjoyed opening up my mind to alternative thinking but found the book over-all repetitive and devoid of fact.
Jul 13, 2011
Shannon
rated it:
This one started out strong and promising, but about halfway through became so disjointed and scattered that it was hard to follow. The good thing is that it awakened my interest in esoteric philosophy, and I'm looking forward to exploring it more through other books. I just think this book tried to do too much and got lost.
Feb 11, 2009
William Blake
rated it:
Gave up after about 100 pages. I felt I learned nothing, and could hope to penetrate no further into the nearly unreadable prose. I hope that this appeals to someone, but it's unquestionably not for me.
Feb 27, 2011
Paul
rated it:
Excellent beginning and pretty good ending. Middle was too far out their for me. Interesting concept of the world being created from mind in an ideal state before physical creation.
Nov 04, 2011
Craig
rated it:
So, here I thought this would be a history of the world, as told by secret societies. Instead you get a lot of esoteric mumbo-jumbo claims that cannot be verified or quantified.
I knew I was in trouble when they told of ancient priests creating a patronus-like creatures of their imagination. When we got to the cases of people's third eye opening up by staying in a state of hunch, I was done.
I think that this book might have an audience, but that audience does not include anyo More...
I knew I was in trouble when they told of ancient priests creating a patronus-like creatures of their imagination. When we got to the cases of people's third eye opening up by staying in a state of hunch, I was done.
I think that this book might have an audience, but that audience does not include anyo More...
Oct 15, 2008
Yuval
rated it:
If Wikipedia articles were 400 pages long, the article on "Esoterica" could very well be this book. Even Wikipedia articles, however, are better organized, and most are better written. In fact, most contain more detail about the topic they are discussing. (A book about secret societies that only has a 9-page chapter on Freemasonry? And with at least a quarter of each of those pages taken up by a crappy reproduction of art?) This book's sole merits lie in its fascinating subject, which
More...
Sep 02, 2009
Mark
rated it:
I learned from this book just how gullible supposedly educated people can be. This is utter and useless dross.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 20, 2009
Paula
rated it:
Interesting and a little creepy. Definitely a different view than my Catholic upbringing . . .
Aug 25, 2008
Jade
rated it:
This book was exceedingly difficult to get through. I thought it seemed interesting but the more I read the more difficult it was to continue reading. The author states something then never really gives evidence for what he is saying-- in this way I find it is somewhat of a travesty to even call this a history. Historical writing requires documentation and evidence; Booth would sometimes hint that there was evidence behind what he was saying, but then would never state such evidence or even conn
More...
Mar 07, 2010
David
rated it:
An excellent introductory to the thinking, beliefs & history of secret societies.
Jan 24, 2011
Nathan
rated it:
This book was all tangents that never seemed to get connected or go anywhere.
