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A Brief History Of Secret Societies by David V. Barrett
01/08/2007 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
pub: Constable Robinson. 346 page illustrated enlarged paperback. Price: £ 8.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-84529-615-5. Buy A Brief History Of Secret Societies in the USA - or Buy A Brief History Of Secret Societies in the UK  check out website: www.constablerobinson.com
When the opportunity for this particular book came up, I added it to my short list. Considering the number of stories in our genre that are based on secret societies, it makes sense to have a look at its origins in our reality and see what influence they have before inventing your own. If nothing else, it feeds in reality checks and other possibilities that you might not have thought of when inventing your own stories for those who are planning to write. As this book is also a brief history, you're not going to be bogged down seeing everything in great detail which can also be an asset.
David V. Barrett's 'A Brief History Of Secret Societies' starts off surprising but logically with religions and how even such as early Christianity was essentially covert, requiring special recognition handshakes and symbols to distinguish between friend and foe. As such, these methods became the template as to which group you belonged to. Even the early Freemasons started off this way. They needed a way to distinguish between masons who designed and could be trusted and the builders who did most of the manual work as they travelled around. I suppose it was better than flashing a union card which itself is a form of guild or secret society these days. Somewhere along the line it developed into trade-offs or favours by belonging to the same group and expanded its range of employment.
Barrett also examines the more exotic secret societies like the Golden Dawn or Illuminatus (its amazing how many use the eye in the triangle as their key symbol) that moved towards magic. There's also a demonstration of how Man's herd instinct takes over when combined with gullibility of how declaring a cult and how quickly followers develop around it, even when its pure fabrication. If nothing else, it shows how much mankind wants to belong to anything, regardless of how open or covert it is. That alone, I found a very important lesson.
As a primer on secret societies, then this book should serve you in good stead. If I was to be critical on anything then perhaps Barrett spent a little too much time on tarot cards but this doesn't deter from what else you can learn here. You'd certainly come away with a better understanding of how a secret society functions, power struggles from within and how people see them from within and without. I could say, sign up today but it's easier to read this book.
GF Willmetts
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