It was a bit of a gamble to buy this A History of Esotericism – From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age with an approach somewhere between academic and spiritual. I was not really impressed.
The book is not much about esotericism. Rather it is a history of religion and philosophy. There does not appear anything new in the book, but perhaps on the positive side, neither did I encounter anything really incorrect or one sided. Kazlev presents a fairly down-to-earth history of human thinking. Here and there some of his preferences shine through, but overall the book is not bad.
Kazlev is not entirely dryly academic, but also not too ‘fluffy’. He starts many centuries in the past and ends with the Stoics of Greece. Perhaps there are plans for the second half of the story.
Not the best Manticore title, but not a bad read.
2023 Manticore Press, isbn 0645670049
