The Secret History of the World [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]

...surely one of the most controversial books of the year...there is something about the huge perspectives of this book that creates the exhilaration that Beethoven was talking about - Colin Wilson, Daily Mail --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

...surely one of the most controversial books of the year...there is something about the huge perspectives of this book that creates the exhilaration that Beethoven was talking about - Colin Wilson, Daily Mail --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the esoteric account of the evolution of the species to the occult roots of science, here is a narrative history that shows the basic facts of human existence on this planet can be viewed from a very different angle. Everything in this history is upside down, inside out and the other way around. At the heart of The Secret History of the World is the belief that we can reach an altered state of consciousness in which we can see things about the way the world works that are hidden from us in our everyday, commonsensical consciousness. This history shows that by using secret techniques, people such as Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton and George Washington have worked themselves into this altered state - and been able to access supernatural levels of intelligence. It soon becomes evident that a secret philosophy is encoded in the world around us, in public buildings and monuments, in great art and literature, in the arrangement of the pips in an apple, in the names of the days of the week, even in the very stories we tell our children.

Review for Secret History of the World:
The powerful narrative drive and cornucopia of startling revelations that form the core of Jonathan Black's new book show us the world not as we have been taught to see it but as it really is - deeply strange and mysterious, filled with secrets and codes, with humanity rightly placed at the heart of a grand cosmic riddle. Nothing of this scale and ambition has been attempted since Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine, and Black rises to the challenge with style, originality and aplomb - Graham Hancock, author Fingerprints of the Gods --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Here for the first time is a complete history of the world, from the beginning of time to the present day, based on the beliefs and writings of the secret societies. From the esoteric account of the evolution of the species to the occult roots of science, from the secrets of the Flood to the esoteric motives behind American foreign policy, here is a narrative history that shows the basic facts of human existence on this planet can be viewed from a very different angle. Everything in this history is upside down, inside out and the other way around. At the heart of The Secret History of the World is the belief that we can reach an altered state of consciousness in which we can see things about the way the world works that are hidden from us in our everyday, commonsensical consciousness. This history shows that by using secret techniques, people such as Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton and George Washington have worked themselves into this altered stage - and been able to access supernatural levels of intelligence. There have been many books on the subject, but, extraordinarily, no one has really listened to what the secret societies themselves say. The author has been helped in his researches by his friendship with a man who is an initiate of more than one secret society, and in one case an initiate of the highest level. By the end of the book the reader will see the world differently. It will be evident that a secret philosophy in encoded in the world around us, in public buildings and monuments, in great art and literature, in the arrangement of the pips in an apple, in the names of the days of the week, even in the very stories we tell our children. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The hidden knowledge of the secret societies revealed for the first time. Here, for the first time, is a complete history of the world based on the beliefs and writings of the secret societies, researched with the help of an anonymous initiate of more than one secret society. From the occult roots of science to the esoteric motives behind American foreign policy, this fascinating history shows the basic facts of human existence on this planet can be viewed from many different angles. And once our viewpoint has been altered, we will see that secret philosophies are encoded everywhere around us: in great art and literature, in the arrangement of the pips in an apple, in the names of the days of the week, even in the very stories we tell our children.

Jonathan Black is the nom de plume of Mark Booth. He was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, where he studied Philosophy and Theology. He has worked in publishing for over twenty years, and is currently in charge of Century, an imprint of Random House UK. The Secret History of the World is the outcome of a lifetime spent reading literature in this area, publishing many of the leading authors in the field and hanging around antiquarian bookshops.