Most Popular Books by Colin Wilson

What makes a good scandal? Money, politics and power, and a huge dose of media interest. Scandal reigns in the world of politics, celebrity, business, religion, royalty and art, and this book covers it all - from Watergate to Michael Jackson, Diana to Oscar Wilde. Distinguished writer Colin Wilson delves into the murky intrigues of British and American life to bring the most scandalous secrets to light. Containing brand new chapters on Michael Jackson, ENRON, the death of David Kelly, the Catholic Church sex scandals and the cash-for-honours scandal, and an updated chapter on OJ Simpson, here are the embarrassing true stories the rich and famous tried but failed to hide.

A spellbinding blend of history and science, scholarship and speculation, this landmark work presents startling new evidence that traces archaeology''s most enduring mysteries back to the lost civilization of Atlantis.... The Great Pyramid. Stonehenge. Machu Picchu. For centuries, these and other sacred sites have inspired wonder among those who ponder their origins. Conventional science tells us they were constructed by local peoples working with the primitive tools of a fledgling civilization. But these megaliths nonetheless continue to attract pilgrims, scholars, and adventurers drawn by the possibility that their true spiritual and technological secrets remain hidden. Who could have built these elaborate monuments? How did they do it? And what were their incomprehensible efforts and sacrifices designed to accomplish? Now comes a revolutionary theory that connects these mysteries to reveal a hidden global pattern -- the ancient work of an advanced civilization whose warnings of planetary cataclysm now reverberate across one hundred millennia. International bestselling author Colin Wilson and Canadian researcher Rand Flem-Ath join forces to share startling evidence of a fiercely intelligent society dating back as much as 100,000 years -- one that sailed the oceans of the world, building monuments to preserve and communicate its remarkable wisdom. The Atlantis Blueprint is their term for a sophisticated network of connections between these sacred sites that they trace to Atlantis: a sophisticated maritime society that charted the globe from its home base in Antarctica ... until it was obliterated by the devastating global changes it anticipated but could not escape. Here is adventure to realms beyond our imaginings ... to shifting poles, changing latitudes ... into the world of ancient mariners who recharted the globe ... to astonishing discoveries about our ancestors. Here are the great mysteries ... the incredibly complex geography of the Temple of Luxor ... the startling sophistication of Egyptian science and math ... and tantalizing similarities among the Hebrew, Greek, and Mayan alphabets to the Chinese lunar zodiac. The Atlantis Blueprint opens up a Pandora''s box of ancient mysteries, lost worlds, and millennial riddles. It is a story as controversial, fascinating, dangerous -- and inspiring -- as any ever told.

Of all the important thinkers of the twentieth century, Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) is perhaps the most difficult to come to grips with. For the unprepared reader, his work presents a series of formidable obstacles, from the dauntingly abstract style to the often bizarre pronouncements on the nature of man and his cosmic destiny. And yet, Steiner was perhaps the most influential and charismatic occult philosopher of his generation and the movement he launched, Anthroposophy, with its educational, agricultural, and artistic applications, still has many thousands of followers worldwide. No one interested in esoteric thought can ignore Steiner, but until now there has been no genuinely accessible introduction to his ideas. This lucid and sympathetic account describes Steiner''s development from shy scholar to the international figurehead of Anthroposophy, his break with Madam Blavatsky''s Theosophy, his struggles to find a voice, and the essence of his insights into the supersensible world.

Carl Gustav Jung is one of the seminal figures in the history of depth psychology. An enormously influential and original thinker, Jung was for some time Freud''s principal disciple, but he became more and more critical of the Freudian emphasis on repressed sexual tendencies and after the publication of "Symbols of Transformation" in 1912, Jung broke away from Freud to develop his own technique of ''analytical psychology''.

The Encyclopedia of Crime is an authoritative, wide-ranging and engaging history of the world''s most famous crimes and criminals. Entries are presented alphabetically making this vast compendium an easy-to-use reference. In-depth portraits of true crime''s most extraordinary characters are here, from serial rapists to glamorous gangsters, from ruthless killers to train robbers. Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone, Ruth Ellis, Charles Manson, Jack the Ripper, the Krays, Harold Shipman - three specialist authors describe the captivating stories that lie behind such infamous names. Criminal activities and techniques are explored, revealing an extraordinary range of weapons, along with a thorough investigation in to the science of crime, from footprints to genetic fingerprinting. The development of methods to bring justice to convicted criminals is covered, as are the exciting tales of the lucky few who have made famous escapes, for example from Alcatraz or Dartmoor. Fully updated for 2008, The Encyclopedia of Crime is an essential addition to the library of any true crime aficionado.

What were the achievements of the ’angry’ writers who emerged in the fifties? Historically, they gave birth to the satire movement of the 1960s-Beyond the Fringe, That Was the Week that Was and Private Eye. Their satire and irreverence aroused enthusiasm in man, and a new ‘anti-Establishment’ mood developed from Look Back in Anger and The Outsider. All literary movements acquire enemies, but the Angry Young Men of the 1950s accumulated more than most. Why? Wilson takes us on a journey back to this era, and reveals fascinating and sometimes disturbing stories from the Greats, including John Osborne, Kingsley Amis, Kenneth Tynan and John Braine-to name but a few. At all events, the story of that period makes a marvellously lively tale which, most importantly, was recorded by someone who was actually there.

42 amazing true cases of unnatural events with no rational explanations"--Jacket.

In these pages one of the most controversial of modern writers examines one of the most controversial phenomena of recent years - the young Israeli psychic Uri Geller. In previous books, most notably "The Occult, '' Colin Wilson has examined all aspects of so-called supernatural events. Here he brings his understanding of this field to bear on the baffling feats and intriguing personality of this mystic-cum-showman who can bend forks and duplicate drawings - among other accomplishments - apparently through the exercise of mental energy. ufeffOne of the most controversial of modern writers here examines one of the most controversial of modern phenomena - the young Israeli psychic Uri Geller. Writers and scientists are sharply divided over the seemingly miraculous feats Geller performs Now Colin Wilson weighs up the evidence and offers his own balanced interpretation.

Is the near-death experience a defense mechanism of the brain or have people actually been on the threshold of another world? Colin Wilson assesses the evidence that includies mediumship, paranormal activity, spirit sightings, and spirit communications. Above all, he includes the striking case histories of people who claim to have "died, " and reported their experiences of the afterlife.

"Despite research on the brain, the mystery of the mind remains, since modern science refuses to formally address the problem of consciousness. "The human brain has two halves that are almost identical and the question of why this should be remains unsolved." Colin Wilson likens these halves -- left and right hemispheres -- to a Laurel & Hardy relationship, a classic interaction in which one takes its cue from the other. But trouble arises when there is a failure of cooperation; then it seems as if the brain contains separate selves. What is important is not dominance or a comic assertion for independence but a new understanding of individual function: how conscious effort of control, or cooperation, based upon a change of attitude, can "bring about immediate changes in the quality of human consciousness.""--Page 4 of cover.

Discusses the parapsychological phenomena which have intrigued mankind through the ages and examines selected individuals renowned for their involvment in the occult

An ordinary family house in a quiet West Country town - 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester - is now known throughout the world as the House of Horror: the home of Fred and Rosemary West and the scene of one of the most shocking cases of serial murder England has ever seen. United by acts of unimagingable cruelty, the West''s partnership was one of the most deadly in criminal history.

Hoping to prove that the universe of the paranormal is as consistent and comprehensive as that of modern science, Wilson discusses the unseen powers of the human mind, poltergeists, spirit possessions, and reincarnations

A collection of tales of the world''s worst crooks and conmen, the criminals who got away, the world''s most amazing heists and robberies, the most nauseating mobsters and history''s most horrific murders for which no murderer was ever found.

One of the most infamous decades in the history of murder, the 1930s brought to the fore such infamous criminals as Peter Kurten, the most sadistic killer in the annals of crime; Buck Ruxton, the dismembering doctor; & Albert Fish, the first convicted cannibal killer. You''ll meet Bruno Hauptmann, the man who kidnapped the Lindburgh baby, & Tony Mancini, acquitted of a horrifying murder, but who confessed afterwards in the pages of a national newspaper. These & many more shocking & fascinating stories of killers & the men who caught them combine in this portrait of a classic era of crime.

Recounts a variety of cases in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, and elsewhere, including the death of Julia Wallace as told by Dorothy Sayers and the story of Ma Barker

Examines various explanations and evidence related to UFO sightings and alien encounters throughout history.