On Certain Phenomena of Trance

Richard Hodgson (1855-1906) – one of the outstanding American researchers of "psychism"; a doctor of law and a doctor of philology; a member of the Society for Psychical Research in London and secretary of the American Society for Psychical Research.... For a long time, Dr. Hodgson was a fierce persecutor and opponent of the spiritualist doctrine, exposing fraudulent mediums, but eventually, as a result of patient study and deep understanding of the subject, he became a staunch supporter of spiritualist teachings. The book presented to the readers provides information about the many years of work he undertook on the path to his final conclusions.
Spiritualism is a philosophy, the conclusions, hypotheses, and assertions of which make any educated reader ponder. The teaching that a human being is not a perishable body but an immortal soul or spirit is as old as the world and is present, in one form or another, in every philosophy (except for materialism) and in every religion (except for atheism). Spiritualism teaches, in particular, that on Earth (in the dense world) lives only a part of humanity (which is neither the largest nor the best), while a larger part of it lives in the subtle world (beyond the material universe).
Arthur Conan Doyle (one of the pillars and adepts of this teaching) wrote: "Get used to the undeniable obviousness and accept it. Expand and spiritualize your thoughts. Show the fruits of this in your life. The absence of selfishness is the driving force of all moral development. Realize it not as a question of abstract faith but as a tangible subject, as tangible and obvious as, for example, the streets of the city you walk through, the fact that we step into another life, in which happiness will become available to all, and that this happiness can only be delayed or even taken away from us by madness and selfishness during these few fleeting years. Embrace this majestic truth!".
The book is intended for all seekers of truth as well as for a wide range of readers.