Aleister Crowley was a blustery coward, an arrogant, misogynistic racist with fascist leanings, and a callous user, as often threatened by his sexuality as he claimed to be liberated by it. But he was also a groundbreaking poet and an iconoclastic visionary whose literary and cultural legacies extend far beyond the limits of his reputation.
This controversial individual, a frightening mixture of egomania and self-loathing, has inspired passionate - but seldom fair - assessments by historians. Sutin, by treating Crowley as a cultural phenomenon, and not simply a sorcerer or a charlatan, convinces even sceptical readers that the self-styled "Beast" remains a fascinating study in eccentricity.
