The Secret History of the World

By: Jonathan Black

Narrated by: Robert Powell

Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

Here, for the first time, is a complete history of the world based on the beliefs and writings of secret societies, researched with the help of an 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 that the basic facts of human existence on this planet can be viewed from many very 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.

(P)2007 Quercus Publishing

Not for beginners

Any additional comments?

There is a large amount of information in this book, but its not for beginners. You already need to have done some study of esoteric subjects before this book will make any sense whatsoever.The author throws a lot of terms around such as say, alchemy, so unless you want to stop and look up each subject as you go, its best to learn some basics first.I really like the audio version of the book, but I am left also now wanting a written reference with footnotes.This does, as the title advertises, give a "secret history of the world", as outlined in esoteric teachings.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

For $10 it's ok.

it's ok. I didn't agree with everything in the book, but when you look at it as "this is what the secret society believes, not necessarily what is true" than its a little easier to stomach.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Excellent!!!

What made the experience of listening to The Secret History of the World the most enjoyable?

After listening to the audio version, I went out and bought the book
Great information

What did you like best about this story?

Easy to listen to, very informative

What about Robert Powell’s performance did you like?

Easy to listen to him

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

n?a

Any additional comments?

Excellent--will listen to it again and again

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Fascinating

I'm reading the book right now in Spanish, so I'm buying the audio version to have it in English and share... probably way easier to get it through reading than listening but I'm totally loving it. Unites and makes sense of the major phylosophies and spiritualities out there

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Take the good with the bad

There are some gems in this book then, quite paradoxically, some cringe worthy sections. It's as if the book is written by two different people. Thought provoking then in places dogmatic. A reviewer earlier said they thought the author is a closet Christian. Agreed.

Sometimes it feels like mythologies are taken too literally. And the final few paragraphs almost negate the author’s entire thesis. “Satan” is going to incarnate in the “final days” is a good example of literalism and christian bias.

The book should be titled Secret History of Europe, not the world. Very little mention of entire continents of peoples and their mythologies.

That said, read it. The general theme of re-interpreting history from the spiritual point of view is well worth the slog. Just try to ignore the blatant manipulation of myths and perhaps facts to fit the authors agenda.

Good material, beautifully read, weirdly abridged

I've ordered a print copy of this book because the fascinating material on the audiobook is strangely chopped up and incomplete. it's clear that the abridgement wasn't done very thoughtfully. Kind of a weird listening experience because of this, but the material is extremely tantalizing. I'd consider this audiobook an introduction or Cliff Notes version of what must be in the unabridged book. Publishers, why do your make these choices??

A book about everything and nothing

The author is very well spoken and very well read. An hour in the book I was still waiting to get to a point but there was no hope of that.

I found it pointless... maybe I am not sharp enough to get it.

2 of 4 people found this review helpful

horrible book

What would have made The Secret History of the World better?

I expected the content of this book to enshrine some historical facts with stories of the occult or secret societies, instead it was all made up rubish with absolutely 0 historical facts. It is all a puzzle of made up stories grabbed from one to the other and intertwined as a book.A total waste of money!

What was most disappointing about Jonathan Black’s story?

The content was of very low quality. it sounds more like a couple of made up stories with too many missing links. And absolutely ZERO historical facts to back up anything. Not only that but some of his historical dates are actually WRONG.

What didn’t you like about Robert Powell’s performance?

it was ok. what usually happens is when you have low quality content you hire a british guy to make it sound smart.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

dissapointment

Any additional comments?

a total waste of money

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Awful!

Absolute nonsense. I couldn't listen past the first half hour.

2 of 9 people found this review helpful

Best to stick to supermarket tabloids

As one of the other reviewers wrote, this author is very well written and Robert Powell does an excellent job reading. The information in the book, however, is presumptuous at best and just plain incorrect at worst. I did not listen beyond 1.25 hrs to this nonsense. Also, as a professional scientist, I was quite offended by the presumptions contained in this book. There is probably more truth in supermarket tabloids, albeit not so well written.

0 of 5 people found this review helpful

Yet another

It's entertaining to listen to this book but its promise of revealing the hidden truths behind religions and secret organisations of the world is certainly not delivered.
Many of these 'shocking truths' are recycled from previous accounts of esoteric religions and many of the connections between Chritianity and initiation cults are already cited.
I found the descriptions of the suppossed early world to be imaginative and absorbing but as it progressed into more recent history this book tried to find connections between almost every significant event and character in history as if they all stemmed from the same source.
You definately know you are in hack territory when the author starts to compare themes in the book to The Matrix films (perhaps a certain ex-football commentator is the real author of this book), and the way in which the author tries to explain away the changes in society and culture from ancient times to modern day as some grand scheme that is foretold in the mystery schools is like a third rate episode of the x-files.
The book is full of ridiculous statements delivered as truths.
At one point the author, when talking about Dante, says that Dante was the first person to fall in love at first sight, and, this ushered in a whole new way of thinking to that time. The first absurdity of this statement is that for any concept, such as falling in love, to be understood by the reader it needs to already exist in the world. The idea that because Dante was an initaite of a secret religious order he was able to invent a new emotion in the human mind is absurd.
Also, when the author talks of The Antrum of Initiation, Baia, Italy he sites Robert Temple as the discoverer of this ancient maze of tunnels, neglecting to give credit to R. F. Paget who actually discovered them in the 60s. It is these types of selective journalism and fuzzy logic that make this book third rare. I don't know how Robert Powell kept a straight face reading it.

17 of 26 people found this review helpful