BOOK AND PODCAST REVIEWS - NON-FICTION

The Principles of Taoism (2000) Paul Wildish The Principles of Taoism is an excellent and very readable basic account of Taoism in Thorsons' 'Principles of ...' series. It covers not only the basics of the belief system in both its philosophical and religious forms but gives a solid and rounded account of its history and its influence on Chinese medicine and martial arts. Personally, I find Taoism a highly amenable philosophy and approach to religion even if I cannot wholly engage with it myself. It is possibly the most humane of ancient philosophical paths but it is highly culture-specific in its general forms even if its basic philosophy can be studied with profit outside East Asia and the Chinese diaspora. It is not, however, without flaws. The most obvious one derives from what tends to happen when 'essentialist' a priori reasoning gets hold of reality and then tries to bend it to its will - this is the so-called Outer Alchemy, derived from an ove...

Fulcanelli and the Alchemical Revival: The Man Behind the Mystery of the Cathedrals (1990)   Genevieve Dubois  The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved (2000) Colin and Damon Wilson   The Secret History of Lucifer; The Ancient Path to Knowledge and the Real Da Vinci Code (2005) Lynn Picknett   Who Are The Illuminati? (2005)  Lindsay Porter   Paranoia: The 21st Century Fear (2008) Daniel B. and Jason Freeman   Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-Religions (2009) Ronald H. Fritze We will start by getting rid of the worst book. The translated tome on Fulcanelli the alchemist is dreadful - poorly written, obscure, poorly translated, poorly edited, pompous, deeply incoherent and providing no context or analysis. It contains some interesting photographs and some less interesting but at least accurately photographed documentation. You are left with an impression of a set of more than a little nutty marginalised figures living from...