Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics

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Aleister Crowley is one of the most famous and infamous individuals in the history of western esotericism. But the stories of magical and sexual practice that circulate about Crowley have served to obscure both the man and his influence. Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics looks at the man behind the myth and the development of his ideas through his extensive and extraordinarily varied writings.

Crowley was a rationalist, sympathetic to the values of the Enlightenment, but also a romantic and a reactionary. His search for an alternative way to express his religious feelings led him to elaborate his own vision of social and political change. Crowley's complex politics led to his involvement with many key individuals, organizations and groups of his day—the secret service of various countries, Nazi sympathizers, Russian political activists, journalists and politicians of various persuasions, as well as other writers—in both Europe and America.

Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics presents a life of ideas, and examination of a man shaped by and shaping the politics of his times.