"The Demonologist" by Gerald Brittle (Kindle Edition)
The recently released movie "The Conjuring" is supposedly based on one
or two true cases investigated by the husband and wife supernatural
investigating team the Warrens. As part of the movie publicity this 1980
book has been re-published. The book is part long-form interview with
Ed Warren (the titular Demonologist) and part review of their more
capitivating cases. Ed and Lorraine Warren became famous in the 1970s,
appearing on many chat shows and embarking on countless speaking tours
across the globe..needless to say I personally had never heard of them..
The recounted cases (if the details are only partially true) are quite
chilling and unsettling - haunted dolls, haunted houses, posessed people
and so on. Certainly events worth investigating. My only problem is
that the Warrens, who started out as skeptics, ended up trying to fit
everything they encountered into a narrow Christian-based framework. So
we have on one hand ordinary ghosts and on the other inhuman spirits
that hate God and so on. Many astounding statements are given out in a
matter-of-fact manner and this starts to undermine their case.
Overall interesting and worrying.
"The Bloody White Baron" by James Palmer
Ungern von Sternberg was a dick. Born into an aristocratic German
family in Tsarist Russia he looked down on most people but was a
complete failure at most things in his life. He found his calling when
he became a calvary office and soon gained a reputation as a brutal
sadist. Sent to Russia's far east to confront the Japanese, he fell in
love with the culture and religions of the region and made sure he was
posted back there after the conflict ended. Needless to say he made a
hash of things and was thrown out of a regiment or two. As imperial
Russia fell apart and the Bolsheviks came to power he saw himself as a
defender of the old traditions and the divine right of kings. This led
him to become a leader of one of the 'White' factions in the Russian
civil war and he raised a rag-tag army to follow him.
Eventually he decided to liberate Mongolia from the Chinese and use it as a base for his grand plans to
reconquer the world. He had initial success but his bizarre befiefs and
grandiose view of himself led him to utter failure. He was captured,
tried and executed by the Soviets. Somehow he's become some sort of cult
figure for right-wing dicks who see him as some proto-Nazi hero due to
his anti-semetic, anti communist, anti-anyone conspiracy views..well
they're welcome to him.This is a pretty straight forward book
recounting what we know about the Baron's life and trying to fill in
some gaps in knowledge. The author also provides a lot of interesting
facts regarding eastern religion, cultures and the geo-political
situation in the early part of the 20th century. It was a great read and
told me much about a little discussed period in history.
