About the author
Logie Barrow is a historian whose research centers on nineteenth-century British social and religious movements, with particular attention to spiritualism among the working classes. His best-known book, Independent Spirits: Spiritualism and English Plebeians, 1850-1910, first published in 1986 and reissued by Routledge, examines the intellectual world of plebeian spiritualists in Victorian and Edwardian Britain. Rather than treating spiritualism as an elite or fringe curiosity, Barrow traces how it took root among working- and lower-middle-class believers, linking it to broader currents of radicalism, self-education and dissent from established religion. The book is regarded as a significant contribution to the social history of spiritualism, valued for grounding its account in the lived experience of ordinary believers rather than in the movement's more famous mediums and societies. Readers interested in labour history, the history of popular religion, or the social roots of nineteenth-century spiritualism will find Barrow's work a substantial, well-documented study.
📖 Where to start with Logie Barrow
💬 What our editors say about Logie Barrow's books
“Logie Barrow’s study is a meticulously researched contribution to esoteric history, successfully highlighting the intellectual depth of plebeian spiritualism. However, readers seeking light entertainment or broad general…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Independent Spirits: Spiritualism and English Plebeians, 1850-1910 Barrow, Logie
“Logie Barrow delivers a groundbreaking scholarly account that illuminates the intellectual landscape of 19th-century Britain. While it successfully reveals how Spiritualism offered profound avenues for philosophical exploration…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Independent Spirits: Spiritualism and English Plebeians, 1850-1910 Barrow, Logie
