Mustafa El-Amin, author of bestseller Al-Islam, Christianity, and Freemasonry, now examines what it is about Freemasonry that made most of the founding fathers of America feel the need to embrace it; why is it that so many people of influence (members of Congress, the Supreme Court, judges, politicians)--past and present--have joined and studied the teachings of Freemasonry.

The international media has traditionally reported on the triad secret societies in terms of a mythic Chinese Mafia, and accounts of their criminal activities have often been sensationalised.
Academic historians, sinologists and sociologists in the last twenty years have taken a different view of the development of such societies in South China and Southeast Asia. Some saw them as primitive revolutionaries who played an indirect, yet important, role in the 1911 revolution of China. Others tended to conceptualise Chinese triads in terms of brotherhood associations and mutual aid societies.
This collection assembles for the first time a highly interesting mixture of scholarly studies and field reports.

Secret Societies in one form or another have existed throughout the history of human culture. But what is their appeal? What is it that makes so-called respectable people indulge in peculiar ceremonies, dressed in fanciful costumes uttering blood-curdling oaths of loyalty with the threat of death hanging over them should they reveal the inner workings of the cult? Are these organisations simply a way for like-minded followers to get together in a convivial atmosphere for purely social reasons or is there really a dark side to their activities. Are they really trying, as some have suggested, to control world affairs for their own nefarious ends? Are the secret societies' claims that they are in the possession of great knowledge or valuable secrets also true? Are they really trying to engineer history or keep hidden that which may bring about the fall of a religion or a country? In Secret Societies, Nick Harding describes some of the best known organisations along with some of their least known counterparts. He highlights the similarities that all these cults have - they all work to a similar pattern and that basic human psychology plays a far more important role in their continued existence and their enduring appeal than any hidden wisdom, knowledge or world-shattering secret.

The world of Freemasonry exerts a powerful influence on the modern imagination. In an age when perceived notions of history are being increasingly questioned and re-examined it is perhaps inevitable that secretive societies such as the Freemasons find themselves at the centre of considerable speculation and conjecture. To some they represent a powerful and shadowy elite who have manipulated world history throughout the ages, whilst to others they are an altogether more mundane and benign fraternal organisation. Giles Morgan begins by exploring the obscure and uncertain origins of Freemasonry. It has been variously argued that it derives from the practices of medieval stonemasons, that it dates to events surrounding the construction of the Temple of Solomon and that it is connected to ancient Mystery Cults. One of the major and often disputed claims made for Freemasonry is that it is directly attributable to the Knights Templar, generating a wealth of best-selling publications such as 'The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail' and more recently Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code', linking Freemasonry to a supposed secret order known as the Priory of Sion who are the guardians of the true nature of the Holy Grail. Freemasonry today is a worldwide phenomenon that accepts membership from a diverse ethnic and religious range of backgrounds. Entry to Freemasonry requires a belief in a Supreme Being although it insists it does not constitute a religion in itself. The rituals and practices of Freemasonry have been viewed as variously obscure, pointless, baffling, sinister and frightening. An intensely stratified and hierarchical structure underpins most Masonic orders whose activities are focussed within meeting points usually termed as Lodges. Giles Morgan examines its historical significance (George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were both Masons) and its position and role in contemporary society.

This is the first in-depth study of the secret society called CUP (Committee of Union and Progress), based on their own papers. It pays special attention to the Young Turks as an intellectual movement which continues to influence the thinking of Turkish intellectuals in the 1990s. It also provides important insights into diplomatic relations between the Ottoman Empire and the so-called Great Powers of Europe at the turn of the century.

Who were Tubalcain, Aholiab and Zabud and what is their significance for the Freemason? There is a general interest in the rituals of Freemasonry, generated in part by the apparently obscure references they contain. This is the only book that offers a guide to the stories used in Masonic ritual and their links to the Bible and Christianity. The new Mason is directed to a 'serious contemplation of the Volume of the Sacred Law' - but that is easier said than done without a grounding in the Scriptures, something that fewer and fewer people have. The historical and geographical setting of the Bible is explained here, making such contemplation easier for Mason and non-Mason alike. Mike Neville has systematically cross-referenced the most influential Chapters of the Bible to the ceremonies. It is his intention to get Freemasons to understand the ritual - not just to memorise and regurgitate - as well as to elucidate for the non-Mason. Sacred Secrets will aid the clergy, theologians and any other person interested in Freemasonry to see the links between ritual and scripture.

After the dramatic events of the last few weeks, Greer Macdonald is trying to concentrate on her A levels. Stuck for a play to direct for her drama exam, she gets help from an unexpected quarter . . .

A priceless lost play, buried by time, is pushed under her door. It is Ben Jonson's The Isle of Dogs, a play considered so dangerous in Elizabethan times that every copy was burned . . . except one. As the students begin to rehearse, events become increasingly dark and strange, and they lead Greer back to where she never thought she would return - Longcross Hall.

There she discovers that not only is the Order of the Stag alive and well, but that a ghost from the past might be too . . .

Although on the face of it the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Ku Klux Klan seem to be very different organizations, they have more in common than one might imagine. In fact, the Bureau and the Klan share a long and complicated history.Beginning with their first confrontation in 1922, this book examines the similarities, covert collaborations and common goals of the FBI and the KKK. After briefly describing the history of each, it explores the development of their association and the specific ways in which each organization furthered the other's goals.The book traces eighty years of parallel development and the conservative attitudes that drew the FBI and the KKK together, especially in the area of civil rights. Political, societal and historical contributions to the atmosphere that encouraged this complicity are explored in detail. Statistics regarding Klan membership, racial violence and a suspicious lack of federal involvement lend support to the author's analysis of events. Special emphasis is placed on the leaders of each group, especially J. Edgar Hoover, who shaped the very foundation of the FBI. The final chapters cover more recent events, up-to and including those following the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City.

Freemasonry is part of a long tradition of Western mysticism, steeped in an enduring and eclectic mixture of historical fact and legend. Much of the ritual and symbolism prevalent in Freemasonry has developed over many centuries and relies heavily on notions inherited from the customs and practices of medieval stonemasons. In this absorbing book, the history and legends of the Freemasons - from links with the Knights Templar, their explorations into alchemy and the hermetic tradition, through the age of Enlightenment and the founding fathers of the USA, to the Victorians and up to the present day - are discussed alongside the mystical symbolism of the Square and the Compass, the Five-pointed Star, the All-seeing Eye, and the Sun and the Moon. Illustrated throughout, this intriguing account will appeal to anyone interested in this 'secret' Brotherhood.

A surprisingly large number of English poets have either belonged to a secret society, or been strongly influenced by its tenets. One of the best known examples is Christopher Smart's membership of the Freemasons, and the resulting influence of Masonic doctrines on A Song to David. However, many other poets have belonged to, or been influenced by not only the Freemasons, but the Rosicrucians, Gormogons and Hell-Fire Clubs. First published in 1986, this study concentrates on five major examples: Smart, Burns, William Blake, William Butler Yeats and Rudyard Kipling, as well as a number of other poets. Marie Roberts questions why so many poets have been powerfully attracted to the secret societies, and considers the effectiveness of poetry as a medium for conveying secret emblems and ritual. She shows how some poets believed that poetry would prove a hidden symbolic language in which to reveal great truths. The beliefs of these poets are as diverse as their practice, and this book sheds fascinating light on several major writers.

From supreme president to forgotten enemy, John W. Talbot lived a remarkable life. Charismatic, energetic, and powerful, he founded a national fraternal organization, the Order of Owls, and counted senators, congressmen, and business leaders among his friends. He wielded his influence to help causes close to his heart but also to bring down those who stood against him. In So Much Bad in the Best of Us, Greta Fisher's careful research reveals that Talbot was capable of great evil, causing one woman to describe him as "the Devil Incarnate." His string of very public affairs revealed his strange sexual preferences and violent tendencies, and charges leveled against him included perjury, blackmail, jury tampering, slander, libel, misuse of the mail, assault with intent to kill, and White slavery. Ultimately convicted on the slavery charge, he spent several years in Leavenworth penitentiary and eventually lost everything, including control of the Order of Owls. His descent into alcoholism and death by fire was a fitting end to a tumultuous and dramatic life. After 50 years of newspaper headlines and court battles, Talbot's death made national news, but with more enemies than friends and estranged from his family, he was ultimately forgotten. A gripping true crime story, So Much Bad in the Best of Us offers a mesmerizing account of the life of John W. Talbot, the Order of Owls, and how quickly the powerful can fall.

In this astonishing book, celebrated reporter and New York Times — bestselling author Jim Marrs painstakingly explores the world's most closely guarded secrets, exposing clandestine cabals and the power they have wielded throughout time.  Defiantly rooting out the truth, he unearths starting evidence that the real movers and shakers covertly collude to start and stop wars, manipulate stock markets and interest rates, maintain class distinctions, and even censor the six o'clock news.  And they do all this under the mindful auspices of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderbergers, the CIA, and even the Vatican.

Drawing on historical evidence and his own impeccable research, Mars carefully traces the mysteries that connect these modern-day conspiracies to humankind's prehistory.  The eye-opening result is an extraordinary synthesis of historical information — much of it long hidden from the public — that sheds light on the people and organizations that rule our lives.

Disturbing, provocative, and utterly compelling, Rule by Secrecy offers a singular worldview that may explain who we are, where we came from, and where we are going.