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amotisse's review against another edition
4.0
Just the guide you need to introduce and outline all the basic information from Pythagoras to the end of the thirteenth baktun. Wonderful colourful imagery and historical insight.
mystimayhem's review against another edition
5.0
I wish that this book could have been longer and more in-depth, but that really wouldn't have been in spirit with what it was setting out to accomplish. The Occult Book is great. Greer, as always, is thorough, objective, and captivating. I appreciate how he dealt with some of the more contentious works and personalities in occult history; Murray, Crowley, and Gardner all contributed greatly to the state of modern occultism and paganism, but their contributions were flawed. Greer addresses both of these aspects. I think this honesty is important. Theosophy was integral to the formation of modern occult schools of thought, but it was also integral to the formation of Nazi ideals. Crowley's work and thoughts can be seen in many varied practices of modern witchcraft, tarot, English Cabalah, Thelema (obviously), etc. But he caused drama and chaos wherever he went. There are a lot of accounts that say he was an absolute rat-bastard of a man. He also had a hand in making Scientology what it is today too, so, yikes. My point is I appreciate that Greer sticks to just what's relevant to the history of the occult, but I also appreciate that he's critical and irreverent because that's how history should be discussed.
penguinsquack's review against another edition
3.75
A brief overview of occult milestones in history. Very short of detail, but a great jumping off point to inspire further research
georgilvsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting read, not my favourite. The illustrations were lovely.
oisin175's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
3.0
Informative on a basic level, but it's fairly shallow and everything is dealt with very quickly. More like a bulleted timeline than an informative book. Still useful for topical reference.