Messages from Beyond: Spiritualism and Spiritualists in Melbourne's Golden Age, 1870-1890

History of the spiritualist movement in Melbourne during the period 1870 to 1890. Explores the origins of the spiritualist movement and relates its rise and fall to the wider intellectual and religious currents in colonial Australian society. Demonstrates that for most believers the seance was not a scientific enterprise but a religious and highly ritualised event. Includes photographs, appendix, notes, bibliography and index. Author is Senior Lecturer in History and Religious Studies at La Trobe University, Bendigo Campus. He has published numerous articles in scholarly journals on aspects of the spiritualist movement in Australia. Previous title is 'The Mystic Life of Alfred Deakin'.