A look at the metaphysical experiences that shaped the lives and work of 24 great men and women from the Renaissance to modern times • Chronicles the changing relationship with God, nature, and spirituality from the 16th century to the 20th century • Includes encounters with the paranormal of Ben Johnson, Isaac Newton, Mary Shelley, Leo Tolstoy, Doris Lessing, and Winston Churchill What role did the esoteric thought of Swedenborg play in the creative output of Honoré de Balzac? Did a supernatural encounter prompt Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley to focus her work on the theme of immortality? Building on his earlier research on communications with the spirit world that Victor Hugo, author of Les Misérables, experienced while in exile on the isle of Jersey, John Chambers now looks at the role occult knowledge and supernatural experiences played in the lives of 24 geniuses. His investigation spans the life and work of William Blake, Helena Blavatsky, and W. B. Yeats, whose esoteric interests are well known, as well as those little suspected of such encounters with worlds beyond ours, including Doris Lessing, Leo Tolstoy, Norman Mailer, Yukio Mishima, and Winston Churchill. Chambers presents more than a collection of anecdotes and newly revealed secrets. His research provides insightful historical context of the decisive turning point that took place with the collapse of Prague, the occult capital of Europe, in 1620, which resulted in the victory of Cartesian reality and Newton’s scientific paradigm over the esoteric traditions that flourished until that time. The magical and occult world shown in the lives of these 24 great men and women offers us a glimpse of what could still be ours--a world that though it is now overshadowed by modern scientific and technological principles is yet still visible on the horizon through the visions and paranormal experiences of these geniuses.

ジョン・チェンバースの本作は、歴史を形作った天才たちの背後に蠢く「超自然的な深淵」を鮮烈に描き出した稀有な評伝です。ニュートンや三島由紀夫といった知性の巨星たちが、合理主義の影でいかに形而上学的な体験に突き動かされていたか。本書はその秘められた霊的葛藤を暴き、偉大な創造の源泉が単なる知性ではなく、人知を超えた異界との接触にあったことを情熱的に証明しています。 特筆すべきは、科学が勝利した近代の裏側で失われた「神秘主義への視座」を再構築する壮大なスケール感です。天才たちが目にしたビジョンを通じて、合理主義の地平の先にある未知の世界を再発見させてくれる本作は、読者の知的好奇心を激しく揺さぶります。芸術と魂の関係を再定義するこの深遠な知の冒険は、あなたの世界観を根底から覆す、まさに啓示に満ちた一冊といえるでしょう。