the spiritualist prime minister: volume 1: mackenzie king and the new revelation

The Spiritualist Prime Minister by historian Dr. Anton Wagner presents former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King’s quest for spirit communication within the historical and cultural context of British, Canadian, and American Spiritualism.

Mackenzie King was Canada’s longest-serving Prime Minister from 1922 to 1930 and from 1935 to 1948. Historians have ranked him as Canada’s greatest Prime Minister for his political leadership in winning Canada’s autonomy from the British Empire and for organizing Canada’s enormous war effort that enabled Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt to lead their countries to victory in World War II.

The Spiritualist Prime Minister is the first in-depth examination of King’s spiritualist beliefs and occult practices. Volume 1: Mackenzie King and the New Revelation takes its title from Arthur Conan Doyle’s affirmation during World War I that Spiritualism was a new revelation from God that would become the dominant world religion within a generation. The volume contrasts the rapid growth of Spiritualism in the United Kingdom with King’s turn towards Spiritualism following the death of his mother in 1917 and demonstrates the very significant influence of British Spiritualism on a Canadian Prime Minister.