Modern Occultism in Late Imperial Russia traces the history of occult thought and practice from its origins in private salons to its popularity in turn-of-the-century mass culture. In lucid prose; Julia Mannherz examines the ferocious public debates of the 1870s on higher dimensional mathematics and the workings of séance phenomena; discusses the world of cheap instruction manuals and popular occult journals; and looks at haunted houses; which brought together the rural settings and the urban masses that obsessed over them. In addition; Mannherz looks at reactions of Russian Orthodox theologians to the occult.In spite of its prominence; the role of the occult in turn-of-the-century Russian culture has been largely ignored; if not actively written out of histories of the modern state. For specialists and students of Russian history; culture; and science; as well as those generally interested in the occult; Mannherz’s fascinating study remedies this gap and returns the occult to its rightful place in the popular imagination of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Russian society.
#228422 in Books UPNE 1999-03-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.97 x .57 x 7.03l; 1.04 #File Name: 0874519039222 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A Great SynthesisBy DavidEasily the best overview of eighteenth century military sites and the archaeology that has been conducted on them. While this book was published some 18 years ago; it still is very widely read and relevant. It covers sites along the Hudson River; Lake George and Lake Champlain and describes what has been excavated and what survives down to the present day.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Four StarsBy CustomerInteresting and insightful; but a bit preachy at times.13 of 15 people found the following review helpful. Worthwhile survey of Colonial Military sitesBy A CustomerVery good illustrated survey of Colonial Military sites in in the Lake George; Champlain area. Nicely illustrated with a brief history of each site. A true bargain at the price!!!! The only flaw I found was the author repeats the old misinformation regarding the excavation of the HMS Invincible site in England. This warship sunk in the 1750s which was excavated along with late 18th and 19th Century military buttons that washed into the wreck afterwards leading Archeologists to believe British military buttons were regimentally marked in the 1750s. It shows how Archeology can sometimes provide misleading history when the excavators have little knowledge of material culture.
