Secret societies Books

Book SynopsisThe hitman with a conscience is back in a thriller that opens with an explosive terrorist attack on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.Trade ReviewExplosive and timely...Holm expertly balances weighty issues of national security with more intimate personal losses, and makes it clear that the best stories happen in the gray area between good and evil * Publishers Weekly *Fast-paced, full of twists that ingeniously come together for a thunderous finale, this is commercial thriller writing at its best and grand entertainment. * Maxim Jabukowski, LoveReading *Praise for THE KILLING KIND -- :A ripping, twisting yarn you can read in one sitting -- Simon Kernick, author of The Final MinuteA story of rare, compelling brilliance, with a concept so high you'll need oxygen to finish it...This is a one-sitting, extravagant, mind-blowing reading pleasure -- David BaldacciRoaring tough-guy fun * The Sunday Times *Lean, brutal and riveting, THE KILLING KIND is the kind of novel you can't put down but also want to savour. With sharply etched characters, knifelike twists and hardboiled energy to burn, it's an utter winner, beginning to end. -- Megan Abbott, bestselling author of THE END OF EVERYTHINGA fast-moving thriller with a clever premise...Who will best whom is by no means obvious in this fast-moving, witty tale of good guy versus bad guy versus worse guy. * Kirkus starred review *I love Chris Holm. He can evoke a landslide of character in a single detail. THE KILLING KIND crackles with muscle and moxie and wit. I will read it again and again. -- Chelsea Cain, author of HeartsickPure joy...so fast-moving, so expertly arranged, every piece fitting together with a well-oiled snap, that it feels weaponized. Read it. Or else. -- Benjamin Percy * New York Times Book Review *Holm is terrific at rendering characters with empathy and humour...you'll want to go along for the ride - but keep that seat belt fastened * Boston Globe *

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Book SynopsisThis volume traces the history of theEdinburgh Incorporation of Mary's Chapel, which sought to control the capital's building trades and defend their privileges. By utilising a range of previously missing charters and archival documents, the author offers a new perspective on the prestigious craft guild in its 542 years of existence.

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Book SynopsisRejected by the Freemasons? Not bright enough for the Illuminati? Burnt by the Hell Fire Club? No friends in high places to get you into the Bilderberg or the Bohemian Grove? Feeling isolated and powerless? Fear not. There is an answer... Why not start your own secret society to add an air of mystery to your life and instantly alter the way you are perceived by family, friends and society at large. Learn the secrets of how to really influence people in business and politics by creating your own elitist fraternity. Discover the basic requirements for creating a clandestine sister or brotherhood with the ability to control, govern and influence events at the local or global level. Develop your own secret knowledge and hidden agenda while you plot to overthrow the powers that be through revolution and political or religious intrigue. Pierre Plantard and the Priory of Sion failed but you can avoid making the same mistakes they did by understanding what it really takes to maintain and develop a secret society. This book will show you all the requirements needed from choosing regalia to setting up a lodge, from electing a grand master to illustrating basic initiation ceremonies. It will also guide you on how to take historical events, great works of art and famous names to mould them into your desires for global domination. Don\'t feel left out again... Start a secret society and be part of the conspiracy...

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Book SynopsisBoth the Prophet Joseph Smith and his Book of Mormon have been characterized as ardently, indeed evangelically, antimasonic. Yet in this sweeping social, cultural, and religious history of nineteenth-century Mormonism and its milieu, Forsberg argues that masonry, like evangelical Christianity, was an essential component of Smith's vision.Trade ReviewEqual Rites is an imaginative and ambitious book. -- Grant Underwood Journal of American History This is an important book on the history of American religion, culture, and society. Choice [Equal Rites] is well written and engaging. -- D.E. Mills Jr. Reviews in Religion and Theology A uniquely insightful answer to scholars' recent calls for greater understanding of Mormon theology, culture, and institutional character. Religous Studies ReviewTable of ContentsPreface: Mormon Masonry? Introduction: The Wax and Wane of Masonry in American Culture Part I. The Mormon-Masonic Nexus 1. Reading a Sealed Book 2. Was Joseph Smith a Mason? 3. Dreaming Masonry: Getting the Story Plumb 4. As the Words of a Book That Is Sealed: The Book of Mormon as Esoteric Male (Hi)Story 5. Fleeing Babel with Mother and Child in Tow Part II. The Quest Within the Quest 6. A Bible! A Bible! We Have Got a Bible 7. The Search for the Long Lost Book in the Book of Mormon 8. What Manner of (Masonic) Men? Part III. The "Anti-Evangelical" Mind of Joseph Smith Jr. 9. Whether a Man Can Enter a Second Time into His Mother's Womb 10. Heaven and Hell: Divining the Ghost of Emmanuel Swedenborg 11. Father-Son and Holy Ghost--Mother? The Mormon-God Question Part IV. The Millennial, Racial, Economic, and Political Confederacy 12. Thy Kingdom Come: On Earth as It Is in Heaven 13. The Lost Ten Tribes Found: Mormons and Jews 14. The Curse and Redemption of the Lamanites 15. The Economic Kingdom of God: Masonic Utopianism Unveiled Postscript: The "Americanness" of Mormonism Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFreighted with the mythical legacies of stonemasons' guilds and the Newtonian revolution, English Freemasonry arrived in colonial America with a vast array of cultural baggage. This book shows how Freemasonry has contributed to a broader understanding of the multiple influences that have shaped religion in American culture.Trade Review"A scholarly work, it is easily read but fully documented with an exhaustive index, huge bibliography, and complete footnotes. Don't miss this one for sure!" -- Ed King, Grand Librarian Grand Lodge of Maine "A vital contribution to understanding the development of religious liberty in the foundation of the US." CHOICE "This study of "Freemasonry in American Culture" offers a new perspective on the evolution of American society over more than two centuries. With its impeccable historical scholarship, the volume provides an important insight into the public sphere and an alternative to Habermas's assumptions about the inherent secularity of public culture with the rise of bourgeois society." -- Bryan S. Turner Critical Research on Religion "The book is particularly strong in its careful attention to historical self-understanding, myth and narrative, historical symbolism, and temporality. Future research on Freemasonry will benefit greatly from it." -- Matthew Crow Journal of Interdisciplinary History "Not only engaging, but also adds significantly to our understanding of Prince Hall Masonry and the African American Church, Freemasonry and Native Americans, and Jews and Catholics." -- Clyde R. Forsberg, Jr. American Historical Review "This is a fine study. Extensive in scope and lucidly written ... Breaks new ground." -- R. William Weisberger The Journal of American HistoryTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction PART ONE. EUROPEAN AMERICAN FREEMASONRY 1. Colonial Freemasonry and Polite Society, 1733--1776 2. Revolutionary Masonry: Republican and Christian, 1757--1825 3. A Private World of Ritual, 1797--1825 00 4. Anti-Masonry and the Public Sphere, 1826--1850 5. Gender, Protestants, and Freemasonry, 1850--1920 PART TWO. BEYOND THE WHITE PROTESTANT MIDDLE CLASS 6. The Prince Hall Masons and the African American Church: The Labors of Grand Master and Bishop James Walker Hood, 1864--1918 7. Freemasonry and Native Americans, 1776--1920 8. Jews and Catholics, 1723--1920 Epilogue Notes Index

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Book SynopsisKenneth Loiselle not only examines the place of friendship in eighteenth-century French society and culture but also contributes to the history of emotions and masculinity.Trade ReviewBrotherly Love is a remarkably fine book that reads its sourcescarefully, uncovers new ones, and restores friendship to a place of centrality within eighteenth-century French freemasonry.... We know that a book is exceptionally good when it leads outward toward other important historical issues.... Kenneth Loiselle writes beautifully, and engagingly he has tackled major historical questions: what were the emotional bonds created by the enlightened emphasis on transparency? Can we get around the conspiracy theorists and yet acknowledge that freemasonry did contribute to the making of the French Revolution without endorsing their arguments about its having played a political role? Brotherly Love adds immensely to the restoration of freemasonry as a vital area of historical inquiry within American universities. It is a wonderful achievement. -- Margaret Jacob * Journal for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism *Eighteenth-century Freemasonry has always attracted historical interest. A perennial question for historians is how far Freemasonry may have served as a link between the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. The subject has also stirred the attention of the wider public, attracted by Freemasonry's aura as a mysterious society that shrouds its arcane rituals in secrecy. The great originality of Loiselle's contribution is that he has combined his close-grained study of Freemasonry with the burgeoning interest in both the study of gender relations and the emotional history of friendship to give us a fresh perspective on a seemingly well-worn topic. Loiselle combines this new interpretive approach with a thorough grounding in much unfamiliar source material, making this a very welcome and opportune study. Loiselle shows an admirable attention to the sources, enabling him to give a convincing—and often touching—picture of what Masonic friendships meant to the men who experienced them. Loiselle states that his primary aim in this book is to use the Masonic movement as a 'prism to understand more clearly how ordinary men conceived of and lived friendship in eighteenth-century France' (p. 8). He has admirably succeeded in his purpose, giving us a historically sensitive account of the lived experience of male friendship, and what it meant to be a man, a friend, and a Mason. -- Marisa Linton * H-France Review? *Kenneth Loiselle has joined together several major strands of historiography and examined a rich corpus of archival evidence to produce an important study of sociability in eighteenth-century France. The strands derive from classic and recent works on Freemasonry, social relations, gender, secularization, emotion, and the relationship between the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. Loiselle is a helpful guide to, and friendly critic of, the existing literature, and his own analysis of records from Mason lodges and correspondence between individual Masons turns what risked being a synthetic review of the familiar into an original and compelling treatment of matters central to historical study. -- David G. Troyansky * American Historical Review *Kenneth Loiselle's book adds to the literature on Masonry by examining the relatively neglected topic of the private and emotional dimensions of this phenomenon. As he convincingly argues, friendship was central to the appeal and experience of Freemasonry in the eighteenth century. By studying the ritual and affective lives of Masons, this book also contributes to the burgeoning scholarship on private life, friendship, masculinity and the emotions as well as the more established literatures on how the Enlightenment was lived and the connections between the Enlightenment and the Revolution.... Loiselle is deeply engaged with the intellectual history of friendship and shows how Masons put Enlightenment ideals about the self and society into practice.... One of the merits of this book... is that it does not just consider norms and discourses but also the experience of Masonic friendship and shows the constant interaction between these two domains. -- Sarah Horowitz * French History *This well-documented study is the fruit of much archival research in the Masonic collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and numerous regional collections. An enjoyable read, the work successfully places the project of Masonic practices in their social and cultural environments in a convincingly analytical and varied way. Beyond the Masonic realm, it brings a stimulating contribution to the study of masculine sociability in the eighteenth century. -- Pierre-Yves Beaurepaire * Annales *Table of ContentsIntroduction1. The Masonic Utopia of Friendship2. Friendship in Ritual3. Confronting the Specter of Sodomy4. "New but True Friends": The Friendship Network of Philippe-Valentin Bertin du Rocheret5. Friendship in the Age of Sensibility6. Friendship under Fire: Freemasonry in the French RevolutionConclusionIndex

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Book SynopsisFreemasonry has played a significant role in the history of Native Americans since the colonial era—a role whose extent and meaning are fully explored for the first time in this book. The overarching concern of Native American Freemasonry is with how Masonry met specific social and personal needs of Native Americans, a theme developed across three periods: the revolutionary era, the last third of the nineteenth century, and the years following the First World War. Joy Porter positions Freemasonry within its historical context, examining its social and political impact as a transatlantic phenomenon at the heart of the colonizing process. She then explores its meaning for many key Native leaders, for ethnic groups that sought to make connections through it, and for the bulk of its American membership—the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant middle class. Through research gleaned from archives in New York, Philadelphia, Oklahoma, California, and London, Porter Trade Review"This elegantly written book has much to recommend it. It is meticulously documented and is based on archival and secondary sources housed in major Masonic libraries in cities on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The book serves as a metric for studies of Native Americans and of other minority groups who have participated in Freemasonry. . . . [Native American Freemasonry] breaks new ground and should be read by both historians and general readers."—R. William Weisberger, Journal of American History “Thoughtful and sophisticated.”—Alan Garrison, Pacific Historical Review “Offers many clarifications and revelations about a previously unexplored aspect of Native American history and Freemasonry. It belongs in all university and public libraries.”—Emily E. Auger, Canadian Journal of Native Studies "Joy Porter's book on freemasonry among American Indians deepens our understanding of how an institution once seen solely as elitist and secret could be used to give meaning to native American spiritual beliefs and social activism. It joins a growing scholarly literature that is changing the way we view freemasonry as well as our understanding of Indian Americans. A triumph of scholarship!"—Margaret C. Jacob, distinguished professor of history, UCLA "Native American Freemasonry provides an important insight into how Native and European Americans made use of Masonic space for mutual recognition, acceptance, and cultural exchange and how popular notions of "Nativeness" were exploited within the context of American fraternalism."—Bro. Robert Blackburn, Rising PointTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction A Note on Terms 1. Approaching Native American Freemasonry, Part One 2. Approaching Native American Freemasonry, Part Two 3. A History of Freemasonry: From Europe to the United States 4. Freemasonry as Ornamentalism: Class, Race, and Social Hierarchy 5. The Attractions of Freemasonry to Indians and Others, Part One 6. The Attractions of Freemasonry to Indians and Others, Part Two 7. Native American Freemasons: The Revolutionary Era 8. Native American Freemasons: The "Settlement" of the West and the Civil War Era 9. Native American Freemasons: The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 10. On Television's Deathblow to Fraternalism: Understanding Associationalism and the Declining Role of Fraternalism in American Life Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn 1939, residents of a rural village near Chengdu watched as Lei Mingyuan, a member of a violent secret society known as the Gowned Brothers, executed his teenage daughter. Six years later, Shen Baoyuan, a sociology student at Yenching University, arrived in the town to conduct fieldwork on the society that once held sway over local matters. She got to know Lei Mingyuan and his family, recording many rare insights about the murder and the Gowned Brothers' inner workings. Using the filicide as a starting point to examine the history, culture, and organization of the Gowned Brothers, Di Wang offers nuanced insights into the structures of local power in 1940s rural Sichuan. Moreover, he examines the influence of Western sociology and anthropology on the way intellectuals in the Republic of China perceived rural communities. By studying the complex relationship between the Gowned Brothers and the Chinese Communist Party, he offers a unique perspective on China's transition to socialism. In so doing, Wang persuasively connects a family in a rural community, with little overt influence on national destiny, to the movements and ideologies that helped shape contemporary China.Trade Review"Di Wang's rich volume on the Sichuan Paoge offers a major contribution to the history of Chinese secret societies. Based in part on the fascinating thesis of a sociology student at Yenching University, the study brilliantly illuminates the complex linkages between rural society and culture, the limits of local government, and Western-inspired intellectual efforts to arrive at a new understanding of peasant life." -- David Ownby * author of Brotherhoods and Secret Societies in Early and Mid-Qing China *"Violence and Order on the Chengdu Plain is the first monograph in English that is solely dedicated to the study of paoge, one of the most influential secret societies in the upper- and middle-Yangzi regions in pre-1949 China. An elegant microhistory, this work weaves an intimate study with larger social and political contexts involving rebellions, revolutions, foreign invasion, state penetration, and peasant resistance that characterized twentieth-century China." -- Huaiyin Li * University of Texas at Austin *"Without doubt, Di Wang's new book represents an excellent example of a microhistory writing in the field of modern Chinese history." -- Shaofan An * Frontiers of History in China *"Every once in a blue moon, this reviewer finishes a book and thinks: 'Now this is the kind of book I aspire to write.' Di Wang's Violence and Order on the Chengdu Plain is one of those rare books....Full of pathos and interwoven with complex narratives, Violence and Order is rich in anthropological and sociological data collected in the 1930s and 1940s, and complete with entertaining and humanizing historical anecdotes." -- Kelly Hammond * China Review International *"Violence and Order on the Chengdu Plain is an illuminating study of how secret societies operated in early twentieth-century Sichuan and how they have been understood....[The book] adds to the recent flourishing of studies of Sichuan in the Republican period." -- Henrietta Harrison * Journal of Asian Studies *"Violence and Order on the Chengdu Plain is a far-reaching contribution to scholarship on secret societies, local governance, popular culture, and rural society in the first half of China's twentieth century that deserves to be widely read, by both specialists and nonspecialists alike." -- Benno R. Weiner * Twentieth-Century China *"Wang has made an impressive contribution to our understanding of Chinese secret societies, specifically the Paoge....this book is highly readable and is a welcome addition to the historiography of modern China." -- Hongyan Xiang * Pacific Affairs *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsIntroduction: Two Voices Joined in the Chengdu Plain chapter abstractThe academic disciplines of sociology and anthropology took root in 1920s China under the influence of American scholars and missionaries. Among these pioneers were Shen Baoyuan's teachers in the Department of Sociology at Yenching University in Beijing. Under their influence, Shen aspired to become a "rural activist" and went to the countryside to learn about rural issues from peasants. In the summer of 1945 she traveled to the village she called Hope Township in the Chengdu Plain, Sichuan Province, to investigate the Gowned Brothers. This introduction discusses past scholarship of secret societies and traces the intellectual origins of Shen's investigation that built the academic foundation for her fieldwork. 1A Public Execution chapter abstractShen Baoyuan created the pseudonym Hope Township to protect the privacy of the people she investigated. However, based on the information in her report as well as other historical sources, this chapter confirms that Hope Township is in fact Chongyiqiao, a northern suburb of Chengdu. Lei Mingyuan, the central personality in Shen's report and head of the local branch of the Gowned Brothers, publicly lynched his daughter and the young tailor who worked for the family in response to rumors that the two were engaged in an affair. Despite the brutal and brazen nature of his crimes, however, Lei did not face any charges. This chapter details the horrific crime and its ramifications, looking at the problematic prevalence of lynching and the rule of law at the time. 2A Local Band of the Gowned Brothers chapter abstractThe Chengdu Plain, in rural western Sichuan, was one of the most affluent areas in all of inland China. All aspects of geography, ecology, economy, lifestyle, and local culture and customs enhanced the development and survival of the Gowned Brothers, who thrived here. This chapter describes these factors as well as the growth of the secret society. The organization was founded in the early Qing period with the goal of "overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming." In its long struggle against the Qing government, the Gowned Brothers developed a solid organizational structure and extensive power network. A large proportion of Sichuan's male population were members and played an active role in local control and security. This chapter documents how this secret society assumed and enforced dominance of local communities. 3Spirituality and Customs chapter abstractThis chapter explores the spiritual beliefs and actions of the Gowned Brothers and looks at how these reinforced the secret society's power structure. Paoge members took what was traditional and fashioned a variety of specialized rites and customs for themselves. Over the past forty or so years, historians and students of Chinese society have taken a much-needed neutral, in some sense anthropological, stance toward China's broad landscape of rites, beliefs, and religious and ceremonial practices. This chapter turns to the unique observations of Shen Baoyuan, who was fascinated with what many in academe of her time thought of as arcane and superstitious ploys. It begins with a short sketch of how traditional rites and beliefs were acted out in the Paoge's own local areas. Popular religions were closely tied to local culture, and the Gowned Brothers worshipped Guandi, which brought members together to fight for a common goal. 4Secret Codes and Language chapter abstractIn her investigation, Shen Baoyuan documented unique words used by Paoge members in everyday life, rituals, and communication, often referred to as "black words" or "hidden lingo." Her 1946 report explained pointed out that the very name of the Paoge originates from an agenda of "national spirit" and "revolutionary ideas," which was a way to refer to the anti-Manchu revolution. Haidi, documenting the organization's history, language, structure, and other information, was the organization's canonical text. The Gowned Brothers created their own language, which reflected their unique political ideas, identity, and historical narratives and provided a covert means of communication. This chapter analyzes the development and role of their secret language as well as the political implications. 5Disciplines and Dominance chapter abstractMembers of the Gowned Brothers reinforced their solidarity and internal stability through strict regulations, codes of conduct, and rituals for meetings and other activities. Any member who violated them would be harshly punished or even executed. This chapter examines these regulations and their chilling effect on nearly every type of behavior. Paoge members actively participated in stabilizing local order. The parties involved in a dispute usually did not pursue justice through a formal, forensic process, but instead went to a teahouse for "negotiation tea." This practice was an important means through which Paoge members learned about current events and kept order in even the smallest of neighborhoods. As prominent members of the community, the brothers challenged official judicial power in this role. This chapter describes the Paoge's mediation process and its effect on local jurisprudence. 6A Tenant Farmer and Paoge Master chapter abstractThis chapter examines Lei Mingyuan's economic situation as his leadership in the Gowned Brothers grew. Scholars generally believed that a tenant belonged to the economic class of poor peasants, but Lei, as a tenant farmer, did not actually do fieldwork. Instead, he hired four short-term laborers, whom he paid on a daily basis. Contrary to the assumption that a leader of the secret society would at least be economically well-to-do, Lei did not fit any category of the rural class division established by the Chinese Communist Party during the Land Revolution in the early 1950s. He rose to power primarily through success in fighting bandits. 7Entering the Paoge chapter abstractThis chapter describes the dynamics that led the Paoge worldview and policies that took hold in the Lei family. Although Lei Mingyuan was a Paoge leader, he was not omnipotent, according to Shen Baoyuan's observations in her 1946 report. He was imperceptibly influenced by social constraints, but he had to support his family and fulfill family obligations. Rice cultivation was the primary focus of those who lived in Hope Township, and the home Lei shared with his second wife, Woman Lei, was surrounded by bamboo groves and paddies. Woman Lei was literate and stern, the survivor of a great tragedy in her first marriage. Her demeanor and shrewdness enhanced the family's ability to establish Lei's reputation as a leader in the organization. 8The Decline of Power chapter abstractThis chapter describes the events that sealed Lei Mingyuan's grim demise, through the lens of the larger framework of leadership in the Gowned Brothers. Given his apparent lifestyle and role in his village from about 1939 to 1945, Lei was incapable of maintaining his responsibilities. Covering up his growing financial and leadership problems, Lei lost his economic freedom when his paddy fields of about seven acres were transferred to another tenant as a result of his failure to pay rent. One might assume that a landlord would not dare enforce the rules against a man as powerful as Lei, but in reality all landholders, despite their status, were subject to the same standards. As Lei's personal economic situation weakened, the financial support he had provided his subordinates diminished, thus causing his political power to wane as well. 9A Family Crisis and a Rural Woman's Fate chapter abstractLei Mingyuan understood that his leadership position in the Gowned Brothers depended on the strength of his reputation. His need to "save face" had driven him to carry out the public execution of his daughter and her presumed lover. This chapter weaves together other stories and details of community life revealing that the women in Lei's family suffered under his tyranny. Lei's economic and political instability drew him into a life of decadence: he began taking opium, further escalating his personal financial crisis. Notoriety resulted for Lei family when their servant girl ran away, further diminishing Lei's reputation and authority. Lei was indifferent to his family's suffering and sought a concubine. Woman Lei resisted, however, and garnered the support from other Gowned Brothers, leading Lei Mingyuan to abort his plan. Eventually, the couple reconciled and the Lei family moved to a shabby house in a neighborhood of coolies. 10Fall of the Paoge chapter abstractThis chapter explores how the Communists established their control in rural China. Knowledge of the transition from the Nationalist regime to the socialist state has centered on major cities, and there has been little understanding of how the CCP extended its power into the countryside. This chapter reveals that the Paoge did not confront the CCP upon its arrival on the Chengdu Plain; rather, the organization quietly watched the situation unfold. When the new regime imposed a grain tax, however, the group led resistance in what the Communist discourse called the "bandit riots." Although the Paoge had many connections with the Communist revolution, the CCP could not tolerate its antiestablishment tradition and was determined to destroy the organization entirely. 11Looking for the Storyteller chapter abstractThis book is primarily concerned with two people: Paoge leader Lei Mingyuan (and his family) and Shen Baoyuan, the storyteller. This chapter provides important, new information on Shen and her 1946 report. Lei and Shen lived in two completely different worlds, with different geographical, educational, social, and economic backgrounds, but they intersected in the summer of 1945. One was investigated and described; the other was the investigator and narrator. Both played a role in retelling an untold, powerful piece of human history. The book is also a three-way narrative: in addition to Lei and Shen, there is the author, who engages the dialogue and attempts to understand the Paoge leader Lei Mingyuan through Shen Baoyuan's perspective. 12Untangling Paoge Myth chapter abstractThis chapter's comprehensive examination of texts and narratives aids the understanding of how the public's perception of the Gowned Brothers was constructed over the centuries. These materials reveal the complex relationship between the Chinese Communist Party and the Paoge. In her report Shen Baoyuan harshly criticized the Paoge in Hope Township, but she found a reason to be hopeful by the fresh ideas presented in Righteous Monthly, a journal published by the organization in Chengdu. At the time, however, Shen did not realize that the journal actually was controlled by the CCP. More than six decades have passed since the Paoge was obliterated. However, during the post-Mao reform the CCP gradually loosened its control, leaving a prime opportunity for the revival of at least some secret societies in China.

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Book SynopsisFrom supreme president to forgotten enemy, John W. Talbot lived a remarkable life. Charismatic, energetic, and powerful, he founded a national fraternal organization, the Order of Owls, and counted senators, congressmen, and business leaders among his friends. He wielded his influence to help causes close to his heart but also to bring down those who stood against him.In So Much Bad in the Best of Us, Greta Fisher's careful research reveals that Talbot was capable of great evil, causing one woman to describe him as "the Devil Incarnate." His string of very public affairs revealed his strange sexual preferences and violent tendencies, and charges leveled against him included perjury, blackmail, jury tampering, slander, libel, misuse of the mail, assault with intent to kill, and White slavery. Ultimately convicted on the slavery charge, he spent several years in Leavenworth penitentiary and eventually lost everything, including control of the Order of Owls. His descent into alcoholism and death by fire was a fitting end to a tumultuous and dramatic life. After 50 years of newspaper headlines and court battles, Talbot's death made national news, but with more enemies than friends and estranged from his family, he was ultimately forgotten.A gripping true crime story, So Much Bad in the Best of Us offers a mesmerizing account of the life of John W. Talbot, the Order of Owls, and how quickly the powerful can fall.Trade ReviewGreta Fisher cooly travels us through "So Much Bad in the Best of Us: The Salacious and Audacious Life of John W. Talbot." No one can make up the kind of ordinary citizen gullibility that ran rampant around South Bend, Indiana, starting as early as 1872 and continuing to lope along the echelons of society for the next sixty-five years and counting. . . . The enduring scheming legacy of Talbot resides within the Order of Owls. Never heard of it? Neither did I, and now I am amazed and saddened. Owls deserve a better rap. -- Rita Kohn * Nuvo *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionAn Auspicious BeginningA Budding Career and a Blossoming CriminalDiversification: Social Networks, Political Influence, and the Importance of FamilyThe Founding of the Order of OwlsLegal Trouble: The Talbot Brothers on the DefensiveLeona Mason Tries to Put Him DownDeath and ResurrectionUnwanted OwlsA Profit in SyphilisAn Owl Rebellion and the Charitable Institutions that Weren'tCan't Keep Out of Trouble and Other Odd BehaviorNot Just Owls: Talbot Cultivates an Interest in Exotic Birds (the Kind with Feathers)"She Is Certainly Having a Fine Time""Guilty as Sin": Talbot Is Sent to LeavenworthThe Ex-Convict: Talbot Is No Longer SupremeA Quieter LifeA Fiery DeathThe Fate of the Order of OwlsTalbot's LegacyPostscriptAppendix A: Order of the Owls HandbookAppendix B: The Character and Life of John W. Talbot Exposed by an Outraged WomanAppendix C: The QuestionNotesBibliography

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Book SynopsisFrom supreme president to forgotten enemy, John W. Talbot lived a remarkable life. Charismatic, energetic, and powerful, he founded a national fraternal organization, the Order of Owls, and counted senators, congressmen, and business leaders among his friends. He wielded his influence to help causes close to his heart but also to bring down those who stood against him.In So Much Bad in the Best of Us, Greta Fisher's careful research reveals that Talbot was capable of great evil, causing one woman to describe him as "the Devil Incarnate." His string of very public affairs revealed his strange sexual preferences and violent tendencies, and charges leveled against him included perjury, blackmail, jury tampering, slander, libel, misuse of the mail, assault with intent to kill, and White slavery. Ultimately convicted on the slavery charge, he spent several years in Leavenworth penitentiary and eventually lost everything, including control of the Order of Owls. His descent into alcoholism and death by fire was a fitting end to a tumultuous and dramatic life. After 50 years of newspaper headlines and court battles, Talbot's death made national news, but with more enemies than friends and estranged from his family, he was ultimately forgotten.A gripping true crime story, So Much Bad in the Best of Us offers a mesmerizing account of the life of John W. Talbot, the Order of Owls, and how quickly the powerful can fall.Trade ReviewGreta Fisher cooly travels us through "So Much Bad in the Best of Us: The Salacious and Audacious Life of John W. Talbot." No one can make up the kind of ordinary citizen gullibility that ran rampant around South Bend, Indiana, starting as early as 1872 and continuing to lope along the echelons of society for the next sixty-five years and counting. . . . The enduring scheming legacy of Talbot resides within the Order of Owls. Never heard of it? Neither did I, and now I am amazed and saddened. Owls deserve a better rap. -- Rita Kohn * Nuvo *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionAn Auspicious BeginningA Budding Career and a Blossoming CriminalDiversification: Social Networks, Political Influence, and the Importance of FamilyThe Founding of the Order of OwlsLegal Trouble: The Talbot Brothers on the DefensiveLeona Mason Tries to Put Him DownDeath and ResurrectionUnwanted OwlsA Profit in SyphilisAn Owl Rebellion and the Charitable Institutions that Weren'tCan't Keep Out of Trouble and Other Odd BehaviorNot Just Owls: Talbot Cultivates an Interest in Exotic Birds (the Kind with Feathers)"She Is Certainly Having a Fine Time""Guilty as Sin": Talbot Is Sent to LeavenworthThe Ex-Convict: Talbot Is No Longer SupremeA Quieter LifeA Fiery DeathThe Fate of the Order of OwlsTalbot's LegacyPostscriptAppendix A: Order of the Owls HandbookAppendix B: The Character and Life of John W. Talbot Exposed by an Outraged WomanAppendix C: The QuestionNotesBibliography

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Book SynopsisThis is the first full-length study of Irish Ribbonism, tracing the development of the movement from its origins in the Defender movement of the 1790s to the latter part of the century when the remnants of the Ribbon tradition found solace in a new movement: the quasi-constitutional affinities of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Placing Ribbonism firmly within Ireland’s long tradition of secret societies, this book shows that, due to its diversity and adaptability, it stood apart from other similar bodies and showed remarkable longevity not matched by its contemporaries. The book describes the wider context of Catholic struggles for improved standing, explores traditions and networks for association, and it describes external impressions. Drawing on rich archives in the form of state surveillance records, `show trial’ proceedings and press reportage, the book shows that Ribbonism was a sophisticated and durable underground network drawing together various strands of the rural and urban Catholic populace in Ireland and Britain. Ribbon Societies in Nineteenth-Century Ireland and Britain is a fascinating study that demonstrates Ribbonism operated more widely than previous studies have revealed.Trade ReviewReviews'An important contribution to the corpus of scholarship on secret societies, violence and politics in nineteenth-century Ireland.'Jay R. Roszman, Irish Historical Studies 'This is an excellent study, meticulously researched and lucidly written. The considerable detail adds to the interest and value of the work by opening up avenues for further research into this elusive and yet very real world of Irish subversives transnationally in the nineteenth century.'Maura Cronin, Studia Hibernica'A thorough excavation of not just the perceptions of Ribbonism but also the workings of the “official mind” in Dublin Castle during the first few decades of the nineteenth century.'John O’Donovan, Irish Studies Review'Hughes and MacRaild’s study on Ribbonism is to be commended for recalibrating our gaze towards these too often neglected decades, and years, and the lower class voices which filled them.'Kerron Ó Luain, Dublin Review of Books'An outstanding work of scholarship, one that is authoritative, substantial and carefully constructed...The work makes a substantial contribution to our knowledge and understanding of Irish secret societies, specifically Ribbonism, and to a whole range of characters and forces associated with such bodies... Stylish and engaging, Ribbon Societies in Nineteenth‐Century Ireland and its Diaspora is strongly recommended.'Laurence Geary, History: The Journal of the Historical AssociationTable of ContentsIntroduction: Defining and Refining Ribbonism1. Out of Defenderism: Ribbonism in the Early Nineteenth Century2. Ribbon Networks in the 1820s: A Revolutionary Moment3. Ribbonism, O’Connellism and Catholicism in the 1820s and 1830s4. The Transnational World of Richard Jones, 1835-425. Catholic Collectivism at Home and Abroad during the Famine Period6. Ribbonmen in their Urban Communities during the 1850s7. From Ribbonism to Hibernianism in the Post-Famine Diaspora8. Ribbonmen, Fenians and Hibernians: Clashes and Convergences from the 1870sConclusion: Ribbonism: ‘An Accretion of Mythical Subject Matter’?

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Book SynopsisThis is the first full-length study of Irish Ribbonism. It traces the development of Ribbonism from its origins in the Defender movement of the 1790s until the latter part of the century when the remnants of the Ribbon tradition found solace in the quasi-constitutional affinities of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Placing Ribbonism firmly within Ireland’s long tradition of collective action and protest, this book shows that, owing to its diversity and adaptability, it shared similarities, but also stood apart from, the many rural redresser groups of the period and showed remarkable longevity not matched by its contemporaries. The book describes the wider context of Catholic struggles for improved standing, explores traditions and networks for association, and it describes external impressions. Drawing on rich archives in the form of state surveillance records, ‘show trial’ proceedings and press reportage, the book shows that Ribbonism was a sophisticated and durable underground network drawing together various strands of the rural and urban Catholic populace in Ireland and Britain. Ribbon Societies in Nineteenth-Century Ireland and Its Diaspora is a fascinating study that demonstrates Ribbonism operated more widely than previous studies have revealed.Trade ReviewReviews'An important contribution to the corpus of scholarship on secret societies, violence and politics in nineteenth-century Ireland.'Jay R. Roszman, Irish Historical Studies 'This is an excellent study, meticulously researched and lucidly written. The considerable detail adds to the interest and value of the work by opening up avenues for further research into this elusive and yet very real world of Irish subversives transnationally in the nineteenth century.'Maura Cronin, Studia Hibernica'A thorough excavation of not just the perceptions of Ribbonism but also the workings of the “official mind” in Dublin Castle during the first few decades of the nineteenth century.'John O’Donovan, Irish Studies Review'Hughes and MacRaild’s study on Ribbonism is to be commended for recalibrating our gaze towards these too often neglected decades, and years, and the lower class voices which filled them.'Kerron Ó Luain, Dublin Review of Books'An outstanding work of scholarship, one that is authoritative, substantial and carefully constructed...The work makes a substantial contribution to our knowledge and understanding of Irish secret societies, specifically Ribbonism, and to a whole range of characters and forces associated with such bodies... Stylish and engaging, Ribbon Societies in Nineteenth‐Century Ireland and its Diaspora is strongly recommended.'Laurence Geary, History: The Journal of the Historical AssociationTable of ContentsIntroduction: Defining and Refining Ribbonism1. Out of Defenderism: Ribbonism in the Early Nineteenth Century2. Ribbon Networks in the 1820s: A Revolutionary Moment3. Ribbonism, O’Connellism and Catholicism in the 1820s and 1830s4. The Transnational World of Richard Jones, 1835-425. Catholic Collectivism at Home and Abroad during the Famine Period6. Ribbonmen in their Urban Communities during the 1850s7. From Ribbonism to Hibernianism in the Post-Famine Diaspora8. Ribbonmen, Fenians and Hibernians: Clashes and Convergences from the 1870sConclusion: Ribbonism: ‘An Accretion of Mythical Subject Matter’?

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Book SynopsisOver the past 200 years, many thousands of undergraduates have been initiated into membership of Apollo – the Masonic lodge of the University of Oxford. These have included such diverse figures as Oscar Wilde, Osbert Lancaster, Samuel Reynolds Hole, Cecil Rhodes, Edward, Prince of Wales and his brother Leopold, Charles Canning, Hugh Trevor-Roper, Godfrey Elton and Roger Makins. Drawing on archives held in the Bodleian Library, this book is the first serious attempt to set the story of Apollo in the context of Oxford life and learning as well as its wider social and political diaspora. From the devastating numbers lost in the First and Second World Wars, as well as those decorated for bravery, to the significant number of Olympians who were members of the lodge, it also charts the lodge’s charitable work, its changes of location, social events and adaptation to twenty-first-century life in Oxford. Illustrated with archival material, portraits and Masonic treasures, this is history in a minor key, but a minor narrative with major implications, documenting the remarkable numbers of Oxford freemasons with distinguished careers in government, law, the army and the Church.

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Book SynopsisStarting from what was, at its time, the most important vision of the Virgin Mary ever to take place in Western Europe, The Virgin and the Pentacle gradually uncovers a virtually unknown war that has been taking place across 1,700 years. This is the story of the battle between the orthodox Catholic Church and Freemasonry, itself the most modern manifestation of a much older religious conflict between patriarchal and matriarchal views of the godhead. Erupting occasionally in violence it is strikingly seen in the opposing visions of the Virgin Mary in the 19th century, which defined the conflicting theological parameters and led to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception in the 1850s. Underpinning Freemasonic practice is a fraternity that has been active in Europe and beyond since the 4th century. At the heart of the Craft is a very specific social, economic and religious imperative, known only to the highest aspirants. The Virgin and the Pentacle cuts through the accusations that have been showered upon Freemasonry and shows what it's true objectives have been from the start. Reading like a whodunit, it is a story of dirty tricks that have included false visions, subterfuge and even murder. The conclusions are stunning and far reaching.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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