Esotericism and Christian Socialism in the Late Victorian Era: The Life and Teachings of Reverend G. W. Allen (1859 – 1913) and the Historical Narrative of the Christo-Theosophical Society

Author: 

Lavoie, Reverend Jeffrey D. MA (Harvard)

Credentials: 

Ph.D cand.Exon; author of Segregation and the Baptist Fellowship (Academica Press, 2015) and The Private Life of General Omar N. Bradley (Scarecrow Press, 2015)

The Reverend George William Allen was an important figure in a number of esoteric religious and cultural movements in America and Europe. This is the first serious scholarly attempt to define the man, his theology and philosophy and link him directly to movements that helped determine the cultural and religious avant-garde of the Western world from the 1880s to 1914. J.D.Lavoie’s extensive background in theology and history and his mastery of available original documents lend his research terrific relevance in linking intellectual currents of Victorian, Edwardian and modern esoteric beliefs and patterns.

Allen’s “dream-theory”, unlike Sigmund Freud’s research, emphasized the notion that ordinary reality was a false state and that “waking up” process –a process linked to mystical connections-was the one sure way to human self knowledge. Allen went on to influence poets such as Yeats and Pound as well as ,at a remove, the “spitirtualism” of Nazi and fascist movements.

Market: 
G.W.Allen, Western Esotericism, Anglican studies, Modern Religious Movements, Victorian History, Theosophy, Madame Blatavsky, Alchemy, Annie Besant, Elizabeth Blackwell, C.C.Massey, Mysticism, Secret Societies
Release Date: 
November 15, 2015
ISBN: 
Cloth: 978-1-680530-10-0
Price: 
$76.95
Trim Size: 
6x9
Pages: 
264
Illustrations: 
Yes
Publisher: 

ACADEMICA PRESS
1727 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 507
Washington, DC 20036