Overview

Immortal Longings: FWH Myers and the Victorian Search for Life After Death is the first full-length biography of Frederic W.H. Myers, leading figure in the Society for Psychical Research and friend and associate of Browning, Gladstone, Ruskin, Tennyson, Swinburne, Henry James, Prince Leopold and other influential Victorians. The book offers a fascinating insight into a key period in the development of Victorian thought. Among many things it covers: Extraordinary Phenomena - Myers investigated extraordinary phenomena, much of which is still reported today: out of body experiences and astral projection, near death experiences, poltergeists, gurus like Madame Blavatsky claiming strange powers, mediums both private and public, and haunted houses (for example, the giant warrior haunting a chateau near Heidelberg, the Cheltenham Ghost that was seen by a considerable number of people, and the odd doings at Ballechin House in Scotland which caused a scandal in the press. This work also covers: Life After Death Investigations - Myers believed he had virtually proved life after death by: the link he thought established between hundreds of apparitions and living or dead human beings, and the messages that the outstanding mediums Mrs Piper and Mrs Thompson gave him from his first great love Annie and his intimate friend and co-worker Edmund Gurney which contained information the medium could not know and was delivered in a way highly characteristic of the personality concerned; Automatic Writing - some researchers have claimed that he has returned after death and proved his continued existence through the automatic writings of a number of mediums in England, America, India. These writings continued for thirty years. This work focuses on Romance & Suicide - there is also love, tragedy and jealousy in Myers' life. His first great love Annie, a married woman, committed suicide and Myers' wife, a rather possessive person, tried to prevent any detail about this being made public after his death, even though the relationship was platonic. This inhibited the work of researchers who were trying to verify the 'post-mortem' communications from Myers, since, for many years, they could not check the facts; Credibility - Myers researches led him to forming a view about human personality and psychology which Aldous Huxley has said is much richer than Freud's.

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The life of F.W.H. Myers a man of various and remarkable gifts involved many of the most significant aspects and personalities of the Victorian intellectual scene, yet no full biography of him has hitherto been written. Trevor Hamilton has brought together a good deal of new information about him, and analyses his career and character with sensitivity and insight. He tackles the decades-long commitment to psychical research, for which Myers is now best known, in detail and with admirable balance and lucidity. Altogether a fascinating read! -- Alan Gauld, Author The Founders of Psychical Research Frederic Myers was one of the great pioneers in the scientific exploration of consciousness. He was original, brave and prolific. In this well-researched book, Trevor Hamilton sheds new light on his life and shows how Myers' work was embedded in the rich social and intellectual life of late-nineteenth-century Britain. I read it with great interest. -- Rupert Sheldrake Definitely a book for the specialist, but for its insights into the development of Victorian thought and as an examination of one of the lesser-known figures of the age, this is strongly recommended. -- John Van der Kiste 20090529 Hamilton's labours are to be applauded in giving the reader entry into the life and work of this sensitive and significant scholar. -- Kevin Tingay No author before Hamilton has presented such a global and integrative perspective of Myers. Hamilton combines well the personal and intellectual aspects of Myers with his psychical and psychological work. Furthermore, he covers areas of Myers that have previously been neglected, or only briefly discussed. In fact, I would recommend that Hamilton's work must be the first step in obtaining a good panoramic view of Myers. -- Carlos S. Alvarado J. Soc. Psychical Res.

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