The Great Beast: The Life of Aleister Crowley

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." 'Was Crowley mad? Was he just a super- confidence trickster? Was he just a de- bauchee who found an easy trick for hypnotizing women? He was all these-- and something more. He spent his own fortune on his weird beliefs. What makes him interesting is not that he himself was a freak; it is the influence he was able to exert on so many people of education and social standing.' --Reynolds News [Rear cover:] MADMAN? CONFIDENCE TRICKSTER? DEBAUCHER? They called him the wickedest man in the world, and his excesses scandalised and shocked the world of his day as wantonly he trod the path of evil. 'Death, suicide, misery, stalk through the pages ... would make the stoutest admirer quail' --Times Literary Supplement. 'Mr. Symonds has given us all the information which the laws of libel and obscenity permit.' -- News Chronicle. 'Certain to startle the ordinary reader with its narrative of lethal excesses.' --The Scotsman.