In 1919, a Canadian teenager with a sixth grade education arrived by train to the wilds of Los Angeles. Within a decade he had transformed himself into a world-renowned occult scholar.

His name was Manly Palmer Hall, author of the landmark publication The Secret Teachings of All Ages, regarded as the best introduction to Western esoteric ideas, and the founder of the Philosophical Research Society, which houses one of the biggest occult libraries in the United States.

Hall became the twentieth century's most prolific writer and speaker on ancient philosophies, mysticism, and magic, and a confidant of Hollywood celebrities and politicians. In 1990, he died-some say he was strangled-in what remains an open-ended Hollywood murder mystery worthy of Raymond Chandler.

Master of The Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Halloffers an intimate portrait of this elusive luminary who set as his life's work the daunting task of reconciling scientific reason with ancient wisdom-issues that seekers and scientists still struggle with today.

Author Louis Sahagun draws from Hall's massive archives and a wealth of interviews to provide an insider's view of the birth of a metaphysical subculture that continues to have a profound influence on movies, television, music, books, art, and thought.

Louis Sahagun is a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times. He was a reporter involved in a Times series on Latinos in Southern California that won a Pulitzer Prize. His work ranges from religion and the environment to crime and politics. He lives with his wife and daughter in California.