Secret Societies of All Ages and Countries

Masons and Templars, alchemists and Rosicrucians, Kabbalists and Gnostics - almost all known secret societies in world history are described in the fundamental work of Charles H. Hecker. The author himself considered his book "the clearest report on secret societies".... This book is essentially a guide to the history of the formation, development, and activities of secret societies. The author provides a detailed classification of them, describing religious, military, judicial, scholarly, and political secret societies. Almost all known secret societies, their goals and objectives, structure, initiation rules, and initiation rites are examined here.