"The link between the occult and politics is as old as politics itself. In ancient Egypt and China, magi translated the messages of the gods into the edicts of the land." "These days that link has become obscure, limited mostly to studies on the "dark side" of fascism. But countercultural critic Gary Lachman shows there is a "progressive," democratic occult politics as well. Focusing on notions of "hidden superiors" and the "retreat from the modern world," he traces how occult ideas have informed politics in the West ranging from the Knights Templar and Freemasonry to the French and American Revolutions, Spiritualism and Feminism, Theosophy and India, the search for Shambhala, the roots of Nazism, the occult revival of the 1960s, and Christian fundamentalism in the U.S. today." "Lachman's critique of occult politicians like Annie Besant, Emanuel Swedenborg, Nicholas Roerich, Rene Guenon, Julius Evola, Rudolf Steiner, Mircea Eliade, C. G. Jung, and Aleister Crowley shows that politics is as swayed by the occult now as it ever was. His fresh and conscientious view proves him one of the most reliable writers on this matter in the English-speaking world."--BOOK JACKET.