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Overview
"What do the first major oil discovery in Kuwait, Mark Twain's fiction, and Harriet Tubman's success conducting slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad have in common? They were all experienced first in dreams." "Dreaming is vital to the human story. It is essential to our survival and evolution, to creative endeavors in every field, and quite simply, to getting us through our daily lives. All of us dream. Now Robert Moss shows us how our dreams shape world events and why deepening our conscious engagement with dreaming is crucial for our future. He traces the strands of dreams through archival records and well-known writings, weaving remarkable yet true accounts of historical figures who were influenced by their dreams." In this wide-ranging, visionary book, Moss creates a new way to explore history and consciousness, combining the storytelling skills of a bestselling novelist with the research acumen of a scholar of ancient history and the personal experience of an active dreamer. With eloquent prose, Moss describes beautiful Lucrecia de Leon, whose dreams were prized by powerful men in Madrid and then recorded during the Spanish Inquisition, as well as the fascinating dream correspondence between Carl Jung and Wolfgang Pauli. Building on the foundation of decades of original scholarship, Moss explores the past yet also reveals lessons that can help us create a better future. The Secret History of Dreaming addresses the central importance of dreams and imagination as secret engines in the history of all things human, from literature to quantum physics, from religion to psychology, from war to healing.Synopsis
Dreaming is vital to the human story. It is essential to our survival and evolution, to creative endeavors in every field, and, quite simply, to getting us through our daily lives. All of us dream. Now Robert Moss shows us how dreams have shaped world events and why deepening our conscious engagement with dreaming is crucial for our future. He traces the strands of dreams through archival records and well-known writings, weaving remarkable yet true accounts of historical figures who were influenced by their dreams. In this wide-ranging, visionary book, Moss creates a new way to explore history and consciousness, combining the storytelling skills of a bestselling novelist with the research acumen of a scholar of ancient history and the personal experience of an active dreamer.
Mary Ann Hughes - Library Journal
Moss, the author of several books on dreaming (e.g., The Three "Only" Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence, and Imagination), now explores the impact of dreaming and coincidence on history. In the first half of the book, he discusses instances in which seers and dreamers have changed the course of history by gaining otherwise inaccessible information while also considering the history of dream interpretation and the history of dreams as inspiration in medicine and the arts. The book's second half presents the biographies of four remarkable and distinctive dreamers-Joan of Arc, Lucrecia de León (whose dreams predicted the defeat of the Spanish Armada), Mark Twain, and Winston Churchill. While certainly not adhering to the standards of academic history or psychology, the book is captivating, well written, and sure to please the casual reader. For most public libraries.
Editorials
Library Journal
Moss, the author of several books on dreaming (e.g., The Three "Only" Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence, and Imagination), now explores the impact of dreaming and coincidence on history. In the first half of the book, he discusses instances in which seers and dreamers have changed the course of history by gaining otherwise inaccessible information while also considering the history of dream interpretation and the history of dreams as inspiration in medicine and the arts. The book's second half presents the biographies of four remarkable and distinctive dreamers-Joan of Arc, Lucrecia de León (whose dreams predicted the defeat of the Spanish Armada), Mark Twain, and Winston Churchill. While certainly not adhering to the standards of academic history or psychology, the book is captivating, well written, and sure to please the casual reader. For most public libraries.
—Mary Ann Hughes