About the author
Alex Owen is a historian known for two studies published by the University of Chicago Press on the culture of British occultism and spiritualism. The Darkened Room: Women, Power, and Spiritualism in Late Victorian England examines the central role women played as mediums and believers during spiritualism's Victorian heyday, treating it as a space where gender and authority were contested rather than simply a religious or paranormal movement. The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern extends that inquiry into the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when figures unsettled by Darwinism and the new psychology of Freud turned toward occult movements as another way of making sense of the self and the modern world. Both books read occultism and spiritualism as serious historical subjects bound up with debates about science, gender, and modernity, and are aimed at readers of cultural and intellectual history rather than at practitioners.
📖 Where to start with Alex Owen
💬 What our editors say about Alex Owen's books
“Owen delivers a seminal, rigorous academic study that challenges traditional narratives of Victorian Spiritualism. However, this is not a casual guide to séance techniques or a lighthearted exploration of ghosts. It may…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on The Darkened Room: Women, Power, and Spiritualism in Late Victorian England
“Owen’s study is a rigorous academic achievement that reframes esotericism as a central component of British intellectual life during the late-Victorian and Edwardian eras. By analyzing the intersection of psychology and magic,…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern
“Alex Owen delivers a groundbreaking examination of British occultism, successfully arguing for its intellectual legitimacy within late Victorian and Edwardian society. The text is rigorous and insightful, effectively dismantling…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern
📋 Editions by Alex Owen in the catalog
| Edition | Year | Publisher | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Darkened Room: Women, Power, and Spiritualism in Late Victor | 2004 | University of Chicago Pres | 344 | 9780226642055 |
| The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of t | — | University of Chicago Pres | 384 | 9780226642048 |
| The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of t | 2004 | University of Chicago Pres | 384 | 9780226642017 |
