This title deals with the hidden powers of clandestine organisations from the Ancient World to the present day. Throughout history Man's search for knowledge has revealed strange truths. A Brief History of Secret Societies explores the allure and the hidden history of the esoteric religious beliefs and investigates how these societies have come to gain a powerful hold upon the popular imagination. David Barrett brilliantly presents an unbiased and balanced history of our desire for secret knowledge and of the societies that preserve it.