Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation

Americans have long had a fascination with the occult. Now, well-known writer and expert on the occult Mitch Horowitz presents a meticulously researched, compulsively readable history of the mystical and spiritual experience in our country. Focusing on the impact that the nineteenth-century movements of Freemasonry, Spiritualism, and transcendentalism have had on America, Horowitz portrays a colorful cast of characters as he explains the origins of the Ouija board, the political influence of Spiritualism on the Senate, and the source of the mysterious slogan on the back of the dollar bill.

"What a fascinating book. So it happens that another equally compelling take on our complicated national narrative lies just beneath the surface of things, not the grand procession of presidents, generals, and wars but something more hidden, more mysterious, but often no less revealing."-Ken Burns, award-winning documentary filmmaker