Whisperers: The Secret History of the Spirit World

In this dreary and mind-numbing expanded and revised version of his Master's thesis, novelist Bren-nan (Faerie Wars series) offers the unremarkable thesis that since ancient times people have communi-cated with the spirit world and have sought guidance from that world. Surveying history from ancient Egypt to modern Germany, Brennan recounts case after case of a culture's deep belief in the power of spirit figures to affect the well-being of humans; he traces the rise of mediators -- prophets, shamans, witch doctors%E2%80%94who then communicated with these spirits on behalf of others. Brennan concludes that the development of such whisperers follows Darwinian evolutionary principles, so that some "primi-tive human was born with a genetic mutation that allowed him or her to hear a voice or perhaps see a figure that others could not;" these humans proved so valuable to the survival of society, that they evolved into an elite group. Brennan uses an outdated argument%E2%80%94science debunks the spiritual%E2%80%94in an attempt to establish that the world of spirits is real, and ironically can use only empirical evidence to demonstrate the reality of that world. (June)