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The legendary Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) is a tantalizing and bizarre subject. As an occult leader, heroin addict, sexual adventurer, misogynist, and visionary, he is the inspiration for many vile Gothic protagonists. Author W. Somerset Maugham even devoted a novel, The Magician, to this chilling figure of indulgence and religious mockery. Like any good biographer, Lawrence Sutin set out to discover the man behind the myth. After considerable research, Sutin admits that Crowley was "a shameless scoffer at Christian virtue" and "a spoiled scion of a wealthy Victorian family," but he also sees him as a 20th century figure as "protean, brilliant, courageous, and flabbergasting as ever you could imagine."
Consider these facts about the man who named himself "The Great Beast": He was one of the first Westerners to seriously study Buddhism and Yoga. He radically redesigned the traditional Tarot deck (thus the "Crowley deck"). Contrary to common belief, he was never known to participate in satanic ritual--to do so would acknowledge the Christian church, which he was loathe to do (although he nicknamed his son "The Christ Child"). These are but a few of the surprising morsels one can glean from this excellent biography. Don't expect to find Crowley a likable figure. Do, however, expect to meet a flamboyant man who challenged all forms of religious, sexual, and social oppression and hence became a revered visionary and a reviled demon. --Tara West
Book Description
Aleister Crowley was a blustery coward, an arrogant, misogynistic racist with fascist leanings, and a callous user, as often threatened by his sexuality as he claimed to be liberated by it. But he was also a groundbreaking poet and an iconoclastic visionary whose literary and cultural legacies extend far beyond the limits of his reputation. This controversial individual, a frightening mixture of egomania and self-loathing, has inspired passionate-but seldom fair-assesments by historians. Sutin, by treating Crowley as a cultural phenomenon, and not simply a sorcerer or a charlatan, convinces skeptic readers that the self-styled "Beast" remains a fascinating study in eccentricity.
Customer Reviews:
lots of facts, but a bit stodgy........2007-10-14
It's fascinating, and detailed as far as his rituals and philosophy. But the "Confessions" are much more fun. Also, he covers Crowley in Mexico very briefly, whereas AC has much to say about it in his book. Still, I liked it.
father of evil yeah baby.......2007-09-18
headbangers this is the reason why you all bang your head in the name of the devil this is the reason you fornicate and do drugs. you wanna proper introduction to magic, the occult, prophecy, drugs, satan, promiscous sex, and demons you should check it out but be warned you'll never be the same after you explore the dark truths bad things have been known to happwen and changes in your morals are sure to follow.
Only Half of the Picture.......2007-01-22
This book is certainly not for those who are merely curious or casually interested in Crowley. Let's be frank, Sutin's biography is not light reading by any means. He gives us nearly 500 pages of details; no fluff, no sensationalism, and very little speculation beyond that which is evident by actual facts. Because of this, Do What Thou Wilt will surely disappoint those who prefer to think that Crowley was a Satan-worshipping black magician, those who place him on a pedestal as a perfected spiritual master and those who are looking for juicy tales of sex, drugs, and blasphemy. But anyone who has read Crowley's autobiographical Confessions of Aleister Crowley should read Do What Thou Wilt to balance out Crowley's own one-sided version of his life. Also, those who are already familiar with Crowley's contributions to the study and practice of the occult and who are hungry for a thorough, detail-oriented study of his life would appreciate this book. At any rate, I would not recommend this as a Crowley bio for beginners.
Sutin gives us a carefully researched book. He makes no claims without verifiable sources. Unlike any other bio (or auto-bio) I have encountered concerning Crowley, Sutin seems to have no agenda beyond telling us the story of his subjects life as well as can be gathered from the source material available (which he seems to have studied well). He also does a fine job of carefully and fairly pointing out inconsistencies and differing accounts from different sources (or sometimes from different works by Crowley himself). This is refreshing, as most writers on Crowley seem to want to condemn, apologize or praise Crowley.
Sutin displays considerable insight when he makes his case for the subconscious motives behind Crowley's strong need to promulgate his new creed and religion, Thelema, how he sought all his life to transcend his deeply ingrained puritan sense of sin and guilt with regards to sex, and a few other aspects of his life. But Sutin does this with a cool, detached, non-judgmental and elegantly minimalist fashion. He tastefully points out a few connections between what must have been strong psychological imprints in Crowley's childhood and strong tendencies in his adult life and then lets readers think these out for themselves.
Sutin makes it exhaustively clear that Crowley could often be petty, cruel, dishonest, egotistical to the point of megalomania, bigoted, sexist, boastful, obscene, conniving, and - in the latter half of his life - hopelessly addicted to cocaine and heroin and dependent on the generosity or gullibility others for money. Since Crowley himself downplayed these traits and because his auto-bio Confessions was written about halfway through his life, I again strongly suggest that one does not read Confessions without reading Do What Thou Wilt. Having reiterated that, I also suggest that one does not read Do What Thou Wilt without reading Crowley's Confessions, Isreal Regardies's Eye in the Triangle, or some other book that explains Crowley's magical practice, philosophy and Thelema because - and this is the main fault of Do What Thou Wilt - Sutin gives us almost no understanding of this.
Because his magical philosophy and Thelema was central to his life, Sutin's book tells us only about half of what one needs to know in order to get a good understanding of Crowley. It is somewhat like telling the story of Einstein without telling us about the physics that occupied his genius or his revolutionary discoveries. Beyond a sentence here and there, the only passage in which Sutin does Crowley's life work justice is short enough to quote here. While mentioning that the famous occultist Dion Fortune acknowledged Crowley's great work, Sutin says that, "Fortune is correct in her judgment of Crowley's `contribution to occult literature.' Magick is a watershed in the history of that literature - the first work to strip the subject of its gothic trappings and bring it fully into the modern world. Its arguments are ruthlessly practical - assuming, of courses, that the reader will allow that there is such a thing as the `Great Work' that is attainable by human consciousness. There is, indeed, a religious belief at the heart of the book: a conviction that the life of fulfillment of the inmost spirit - the Will - is the highest form of life. Scoff at this and you not only scoff at Magick but at religion itself. Grant it as a nondenominational goal and Magick may have something to teach you. After all, the definition of `Magick' offered in the Introduction is catholic enough: `MAGICK is the Science and Art of Causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.' "
Oddly, this passage displays one of the few places where Sutin directly gives us his own opinion when he could have discussed this more objectively in terms of the impact that this work had on students of the occult. Still, Sutin barely gives us an understanding of Crowley's work and how he is almost undeniably the single most important writer on occultism. Let's face it, if Crowley was merely a promising Cambridge chess champion, a minor poet and a man who came close to being the first to reach the peak of the world's third highest mountain (which would have made him placed him in the position of being the climber to have reached the highest peak ever before climbed) he would likely have been merely a footnote in the history of mountaineering and Sutin would almost surely not have written a book about him.
But, to be fair, Sutin has given me what I was seeking when I bought this book; a more objective view of Crowley's life and (more importantly for me) details on his experimentation with drugs. Although, Sutin gives us very little understanding of what Crowley experienced with these substances (as he does with Crowley's experiences with magical and mystical practices) he does tell us what substances he experimented with, when, and in combination with what magical and mystical practices.
Sutin gives us no real sense of Crowley's role as a pioneer in the re-emergence of psychedelics Western civilization. The short passage by Suster quoted above gives us a greater sense of Crowley's place in this re-emergence than Sutin does in his entire book. But then again, Suster does not tell us the details that Sutin does. Also, Sutin adequately shows us (through evidence, not opinion) Crowley's struggle over whether the use of consciousness-altering substances are legitimate or counterfeit aids in the exploration of the mind and spirit. He also shows us how in one account of a given event Crowley frankly admits the use of a particular drug in addition to a particular magical operation to gain entry into a particular "plane" or state of mind whereas in another account of the same event Crowley omits the fact that he used a drug without which the result would likely not have occurred at all.
Sutin also gives us what little there is to know regarding the legend that Crowley turned Aldous Huxley on to mescaline, resulting in Huxley's monumentally influential Doors of Perception. Sutin shows us how although it is possible that this could be so, there really is no evidence that this is the case. Crowley was experienced with peyote years before Huxley, the two men met once through a mutual acquaintance and that is about all we know for sure beyond the fact that if Crowley had turned Huxley on to peyote, both men would very likely have written about it at length. As Sutin shows in his book, Crowley merely noted in his diary that, "Huxley improves on acquaintance."
Over the course of the book, we see that Crowley devolved from a young man with seemingly boundless enthusiasm to find truth and to gain new ground in consciousness, to build a sound body of knowledge Crowley called Scientific Illuminism ("The method of science, the aim of religion") with determination and perseverance (mirrored in his considerable achievements in the field of mountaineering and rugged hiking across thousands of miles in various parts of the world) to a derailed and self-deluded older man who spent the later half of his life preoccupied with sex and self-promotion and hampered by hard drug addiction and by poverty all the while attempting and failing to establish his new religion and to gain a large body of disciples. But then again, many of Crowley's best works were written during this period - perhaps this was a time when he was able to reflect upon and write about what he discovered earlier in life - and Sutin barely gives us any sense of this.
In summary, Sutin's book is valuable in that it provides a good detailed and well researched biography of Crowley's mundane life but it tells us far too little about Crowley's spiritual, creative and intellectual pursuits. I would only recommend this book to those who are already well acquainted with Crowley's work and who are ready to tackle a long, dry, detailed biography on his all-too-human side.
Compelling and Expansive.......2005-12-31
I approached this book with little knowledge of the occult or of Aleister Crowley. I had previously read The Book of the Law, and was intrigued enough by its poetry, radical ideas, and mysterious conception that I wished to know more of the author.
Lawrence Sutin does a splendid job at delving beyond the myths and legends of Crowley's life to reveal his humanity, with all accompanying flaws and strengths. He also presents Crowley's various beliefs and philosophies in an astute and evenhanded manner. Mr. Sutin is neither an apologist nor an ardent opponent of the Beast, but a thorough and incisive biographer who balances the varied aspects of Crowley's life.
Sutin's writing style is fluid and articulate, and his subject is so fascinating that the reader can't help but be propelled through the book. I was continually compelled to discover what happened next, and left wanting to read more when the story was over.
This isn't simply a book for occultists or Crowley devotees, but for anyone interested in cultural history. Love him or hate him, Crowley's continued influence and impact on Western society is undeniable.
Balanced and Enlightening.......2005-09-21
A compelling, balanced and thoroughly enlightening read. The biography of Mr. Crowley for the ardent fan and the generally curious alike. Mr. Sutin's argument concerning the conflict between Crowley's powerful self-conception as a proper English gentleman and his homosexual desires is persuasive and does address much of the extremes to which Crowley put himself.
Highly Recommended
Book Description
A potent fighting force that changed the course of the Civil War, the Army of the Cumberland was the North's second-most-powerful army, surpassed in size only by the Army of the Potomac. The Cumberland army engaged the enemy across five times more territory with one-third to one-half fewer men than the Army of the Potomac, and yet its achievements in the western theater rivaled those of the larger eastern army. In Days of Glory, Larry J. Daniel brings his analytic and descriptive skills to bear on the Cumberlanders as he explores the dynamics of discord, political in-fighting, and feeble leadership that stymied the army in achieving its full potential. Making extensive use of thousands of letters and diaries, Daniel creates an epic portrayal of the developing Cumberland army, from untrained volunteers to hardened soldiers united in their hatred of the Confederates. AUTHOR BIO: Larry J. Daniel is the author of Shiloh: The Battle That Changed the Civil War; Cannoneers in Gray: The Field Artillery of the Army of Tennessee, winner of the Fletcher Pratt Award; Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee; and Island No. 10: Key to the Mississippi Valley. A prolific speaker on the Civil War roundtable circuit, he lives in Murray, Kentucky, where he is the minister of the First United Methodist Church.
Customer Reviews:
Days of Glory semi glorious.......2007-06-25
I was very excited to start reading this book when I first got it. I knew very little about the war in the west and was looking forward to expanding my knoledge. The book started off with mass amounts of detail on the formation of the army, which although was a challenge to read I found interesting. The amount of reasearch and detail that he follows with about the high command of the army is amazing. With that being said, there were some problems. There were not nearly enough maps. Only 6 in a 400 odd page book, and not on troop positions became very confusing when he would elaboratly describe troop movements. I found it ironic that throughout the first half of the book he spends a great deal of time talking about the flawed character of Buell and how he was more of a mover than a fighter, when that's really how the book was. Daniels would spend pages and pages on how the armies got to a certain place, and then spend 3 or 4 pages on random scenes of battle, not giving a very good idea of how the battle unfolded at all. Having been to Shiloh, Perryville, and Stones river this book still left me confused on the battles. Although this book does help expand your ideas of the war in the west it leaves a lot of gaps that I'll have to fill with other books, and I don't really want to read the same stuff over again just to fill in the battles. I would recomend reading a different book on the western war before this one.
Mediocre History in Broad Sweeping Strokes.......2005-09-15
Mr. Daniel, a minister, not professional historian has undertaken an admirable task in this book. He chronicles well the activities and history of the high command of the least known of the major Union armies in the Civil War. His work however gives the reader little insight and analysis such as that a professional historian can provide. In essence he has taken the time to place in one volume all the material available on his subject but has added little to these facts in good historical analysis. Unfortunately in some key places even his facts are wrong. His narrative on the "Fatal Gap" at Chickamauga is outright incorrect and must have William Starke Rosecrans and Thomas J Wood spinning in their graves! He gives weight to the clearly fictional accounts of Rosecrans verbal tirade to Wood in the Fatal Gap episode on 20 September from EV Westrate that were added to Tucker's Chickamauga as if they were fact. More modern research has clearly shown this episode to be false and Daniel has performed a disservice to the history of the Army of the Cumberland by blowing his chance to set the record straight on this key episode at Chickamauga. Finally, Daniel describes the model for his book as that of Thomas Connelly's Army of Tennessee classic which probably suffers from over analysis. In Daniel's case, his work suffers from too little analysis and it shows.
Readable history of a less-written-about Union army .......2005-08-22
Larry Daniel performs a helpful service for students of the Civil War with this comprehensive history of the Union's Army of the Cumberland, from its initial formation and incarnation as the Army of the Ohio to its final dismemberment after the Battle for Atlanta. Perhaps one of its stongest features is its thorough coverage of the army's early days through the sacking of General Buell. It's a big canvas, and the story seems a bit rushed after the Battle of Chickamauga. Nevertheless, this study of the "warhorse" army of the West helps fill a big hole in Civil War literature!
Finally a Modern History of the Army of the Cumberland.......2004-08-28
Thanks to Mr. Daniel and LSU Press we finally have a modern history of the too often neglected Army of the Cumberland (AoC). Where this book excells is in its characterization of the the high level command structure. While I was familar with much of this material I found this book helped me gain a far deeper understanding of the growth and transformation of the Army of Ohio into the Army of the Cumberland. Mr. Daniel also does a good job of weaving in plenty of first person detail to give this book the compelling human touch essential to any book's readability. Where this book falls short is in its operational details. The maps, what few there are don't really help the reader. The author also makes the case early on that he is not the big fan of George Thomas that previous AoC writers and biographers such as McKinney, Buell and Castel were. Yet Thomas comes off looking very good in Daniels' book. His only real dig against Thomas is that he was only the overseer of victory at Stones River and not the savior of that battle as other authors have claimed. Here is where the lack of operational detail bites Daniel. Thomas' key positioning of the Regular Brigade, his unbreakable reserve unit, followed by its nearly suicidal commitment at the key moment at Stones River, was the real turning point of that battle. The author provides a good description of the Regular Brigade's first engagement of Dec 31, 1862, at Stones River, but then omits their far more critical second action, ordered by Thomas, then attributes the Regulars total casualty figures for both actions to the less signifcant first action. John King is protrayed as the CO of the 18th US Infantry's three battalions when he was actually the CO the 15th US Infantry's one battalion. A better understand of the brigade level operational details might have led Mr. Daniel to some different conclusions. Still I am very happy with this book and consider it a neccessary reference for anyone seriously studying the Civil War's Western Theater.
A well done army history.......2004-08-23
A book by Larry J. Daniel is an event in the ACW community. He has an established reputation for scholarship and readability that some authors can only envy. A book on the Union Army of the Cumberland by him is a milestone. No real history of this army is in print. Except for some battle histories, the majority by Peter Cozens, the AOC might not exist in print. This book is a good start to correct a deficiency in ACW history.
First, this is a readable book populated with very well drawn characters. Second, the battles and campaigns occur within the life of the army. All to often, an army seems to spring from battle to battle without an idea of how or why. We understand how the campaigns come about and why the battles occur where they do. Most of all, we come to understand the relationships between the generals. Thomas' reasons for refusing to replace Buell and the effect it had on him is an interesting and on going story. How this action and Rosecrans' habits echo through the army's history is one of the best subplots in the book. This is not the reason for the book but these two men have a major impact on this army.
Objections, the maps could be better and more of them would have helped. The post Chattanooga history seems rushed; another 100 pages would have made this a better book. I would have liked to follow Thomas and the major elements of the AOC back to Nashville and seen them face Hood. These are "nits" and do not detract from this excellent book.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding book on outstanding general.......2003-01-24
This is easily the best account of General Thomas' life - just about everthing you ever wanted to know about his life is here, although I wish that the author had included more examples of his writing. Much more, the book is a great history of the war in the West and of how and why the Union won so decisively. The author writes very well and has an extremely broad (and opinionated) view of the war and this book was simply a great pleasure to read.
A Fitting but Flawed Tribute.......1999-06-30
General George H. Thomas deserves recognition not only for his bravery in Civil War battle but also for his brave choice to fight for the Union despite his Virginia birth. Education in Violence grants this recognition, but with a shortage of style. Francis F. McKinney's prose is often wooden and he is short on drama - his long, droning passages sometimes fail to give a sense of a battle as a whole or its significance. He doesn't answer the great question of why Thomas remained with the Union while fellow Virginians like Robert E. Lee and Joe Johnston went over to the rebel side. There is also a transparent partisanship here: Thomas and Grant were at odds, and there is no doubt which side this book favors. A recent book, The Warrior Generals by Thomas B. Buell, does a better job explaining Thomas's superb organizational abilities, his mastery at using maps in battle, and his grasp of how the technological advances of his day could tip the tide in battle. Read Education in Violence as a good source book on the General that is entirely devoted to the subject but limited in style.
Definitive biography of a great general and actions he led.......1998-12-15
"Education in Violence" examines the life of the most admirable general of the Civil War and the army he led, with accuracy and literary clarity. Chapter 16 provides the best overview overview of the battle of Chickamauga in print and serves as a model of visualization of the geography and complex action occurring on a battle site. The account of Stones River is somewhat superficial by comparison, but the book's strengths make it one of the very finest volumes on 19th Century American history.
An unbiased look at America's greatest Civil War general.......1998-08-05
George H. Thomas can be considered to be the father of the modern army. He made the most extensive use of the newest technologies, took the best care of his men, and had the best record of all of the commanding generals - not one loss - even though he was originally from Virginia and fought for the North. He was thus perceived as being a threat to the advancement of the careers some of the other generals, notably Grant and Schofield. This excellently written and documented book by Francis F. MicKinney lays bare the political cross-currents and intrigues in the military of those times and presents Grant and Sherman as they really were and not as they made themselves out to be in their memoires. This book will surprise you, regardless of your persuasion, sectional origin, and knowledge about the Civil War.
Average customer rating:
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Three Years in the Army of the Cumberland (Civil War Centennial Series)
James A. Connolly
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0253210739 |
Book Description
Johnson sought to attack Morgan before he could unite with Forrest, who was on his Lebanon raid at that time, but Morgan hearing that Johnson had infantry and artillery supports, endeavored to avoid an engagement. Johnson forced the fight, engaged Morgan with spirit, and although repulsed three times, after the first and second repulse formed promptly and renewed the attack.
Download Description
Johnson sought to attack Morgan before he could unite with Forrest, who was on his Lebanon raid at that time, but Morgan hearing that Johnson had infantry and artillery supports, endeavored to avoid an engagement. Johnson forced the fight, engaged Morgan with spirit, and although repulsed three times, after the first and second repulse formed promptly and renewed the attack.
Book Description
An engrossing contemporary (1864) history of a Civil War field army from its formation in 1861 at Louisville, Kentucky, to its victories at Chattanooga and Chickamauga in October 1863; its defense, conquest, and occupation of the border states of Kentucky and Tennessee; and its police record of spies and dealings with the civilian population in occupied Tennessee, a mountainous region that supplied the Confederacy with food and controlled important rail lines. Indexed for the first time, it includes exciting accounts of the Army of the Cumberland's expeditions and battles in Kentucky and Tennessee along with a complete description of the army's organization and its leaders.
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