Theos-Talk Archives (April 2012 Message tt00002)

"...No other book you could possibly read will give you the same sense as this one that you have known H. P. Blavatsky, the person, as well as she can be known more than a century after her passing from this world --- not alone HPB, the writer, the Theosophist, or the controversial figure, but also HPB, the unique individual in the midst of her travels, her ups and downs, her daily life."

"You will see her not as she has been interpreted by biographers, often laboring under agenda and presuppositions of their own, but as she was perceived by those who encountered her face to face in her own time. Indeed, of them, even those who knew her very well and admired her, like Henry Steel Olcott, inevitably saw her through one set of eyes; in this book we see her through many eyes looking at the mysterious woman from many angles."

"The diversity of views in Caldwell's work is the result of a carefully gathered collection of accounts of Madame Blavatsky by numerous hands...assisted by authoritative and helpful introductions to chapters by the editor, which put the narratives in biographical and historical context. Most of the entries are sympathetic; a scattering by observers less well impressed by the enigmatic Russian woman, such as Moncure Conway and Emma Coulomb, properly balance the collection."

"...this...[is] an irresistible book to pick up for a fascinated glance --- and then to get lost in for hours. My only warning: The Esoteric World of Madame Blavatsky will not solve the mystery of who or what she was. That riddle will only deepen as you here learn more about her as she appeared to her contemporaries. But this flight into their world, and hers, is well worth the cost of the ticket."  Robert Ellwood, Quest Magazine Nov-Dec 2001, p. 236.

See:

http://esotericworld.net

Daniel
http://hpb.cc