Washington traces New Age thinking back to the dawn of the 20th century, when a mysterious renegade Russian aristocrat named Madame Blavatsky appeared in America claiming that man was descended from spirit beings rather than apes, as Darwin claimed. This is an intriguing story of theosophy, the movement she founded, which spawned competing gurus and sects, evolving over the course of the century into the New Age. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR