Product Description

In this study Baigent and Leigh construct an alternative history of religion and thought which begins with the Hermeticism of 1st century Alexandria and describes its pathways through Europe over the ensuing centuries. Along the way there are tales of individuals, including the Elizabethan magician John Dee and the Franciscan friar and alchemist Roger Bacon.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1091525 in Books
• Published on: 1998-08-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

From the Publisher
An alternative history of the intellectual world

About the Author
Michael Baigent was born in New Zealand in 1948, and obtained a degree in psychology from Canterbury University, Christchurch. Since 1976 he has lived in England. Richard Leigh studied at Tufts University, Boston, the University of Chicago and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Together they have co-authored a number of books including the international bestsellers The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception and Secret Germany.

Customer Reviews

Quite interesting but painful to read.
Some of the history of Hermetism in the first book is interesting but too condensed, names are thrown at you with no explanation of what they did or who they were. The biggest complaint though is the dreadful prose style, never use a short word where a longer one (often used incorrectly) will do, seem to be the authors' maxim, thus people never travel they always peregrinate, the future is never bright always roseate(!) etc. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't done for purely portentous reasons.
The second part dealing with the integration of hermetic ideas into modern life is simply a disconnected mess. Not recommended

Poorly researched
I could not bring myself to finish this book. Writing about this subject matter requires a great deal of effort in research. All manner of sources would have to be investigated and interpreted. Yet at the begining of the book, there are some major errors when it talks about Islam. It says that Islam may be based on christian origins, whilst there is no evidence , nore do they provide any to support this. Fine, I can live with that, they just chose a story that fits their line of thinking. Unfortunaly, it then goes on to attribute certain beiliefs to Islam which simply arent true. Whilst this may not be a big a deal in the context of the book, I was still very disapointed, how can I trust the authors to have performed thorough research on a subject such as hermiticism where sources are few and far between when they neglected to research islamic beliefs properly, a subject on which there is no shortage material. It just tells me that attention to detail isnt important to the authors....or only important when it fits their hypothesis.

beautifully written and very engrossing
This book is a fascinating exploration of Hermetic ideas and how they have become gradually subsumed and incorporated into the arts and sciences. 'The Elixir and The Stone' starts with the inception of Hermetic thought, tracing it through the Crusades, middle ages and finally into modern literature and music. This book is dense with ideas, fascinating personalities and historical insight. I found the writing both eloquent and readable. This book deserves to be re-read a number of times. Highly recommended.