The Sorcerer of Kings: The Case of Daniel Dunglas Home and William Crookes

In this intriguing story of spiritualism, Stein ( Encyclopedia of Unbelief ), a student of the occult and paranormal, recounts and exposes the careers of the famous British Victorian medium Daniel Dunglas Home who, the author claims, duped the brilliant chemist William Crookes. After examining Home's performances, Crookes publicly declared them genuine to a 19th-century society avid for proofs of an afterlife and communication with the dead. Stein describes how Home, a shrewd, fashionable society lion, performed magic tricks and psychological manipulation of his devoted followers, including levitation, table raps, ``spirit'' hands, etc. As for Crookes, he is portrayed as torn between science and his own need to believe in an afterlife, especially after the death of a beloved younger brother. Spiritualism, the author guardedly concludes, is an ``unverified, religious outlook.'' (Dec.)