When Arthur Conan Doyle became interested in Spiritualism during the early 1900s, he was disappointed to learn that the movement had largely been omitted from history books.

Taking it upon himself to author a complete account, he spent much of 1925 and 1926 writing The History of Spiritualism, Vol 1 out of a bookshop located on Victoria Street in London.

Doyle traces the beginning of Spiritualism to the mid-18th century when Emmanuel Swedenborg first experienced prophetic visions and dreams. During these episodes of clairvoyance, Swedenborg claimed the ability to pass between earth and heaven and to converse with angels and spirits.

The seer wrote 28 influential works about his spiritual encounters leading Doyle to label him the "father of our new knowledge of supernal matters."

Doyle introduces Andrew Jackson Davis as the conduit for Emmanuel Swedenborg’s spiritual teachings. Having the ability to teleport himself to distant locations, Davis would often “go up into the mountain” and discuss philosophical issues with the spirit of the late Swedish seer.

Among his other talents, Davis frequently spoke in tongues and correctly predicted future events, including the arrival of the automobile and Spiritualism.

Doyle points to the night of March 31, 1848 as the moment when Modern Spiritualism began. At a small cottage in Hydesville, NY Kate Fox challenged a pesky poltergeist to “do as I do” and “repeat the snaps of my fingers.”

The entity immediately replied to Kate’s request with a series of “raps” and soon a system of spirit communication was born.

Chronicling the rise of Spiritualism. Doyle notes over 5000 instances of supernatural phenomena reported in the American press during the years immediately after the Hydesville episode.

He credits high profile converts like Professor Robert Hare, Governor Nathaniel Tallmadge, and several other "men in high places" for bringing enormous publicity to the movement.

Doyle traces the arrival of Spiritualism in England to Maria B. Hayden, a medium who specialized in rapping and telepathy.

Arriving in London in October 1852, Hayden held several "historical" and "epoch-making" seances that were "destined to effect a great moral revolution of the human race."

Doyle marks the beginning of psychical research with an exploration of experiments performed by Sir William Crookes.

As a man at the height of his profession, Crookes began investigating Spiritualist phenomena hoping the "matter might prove to be a trick." After spending several years performing tests on medium Florence Cook, however, he became convinced that these "occurrences were not produced by trickery or mechanical means."

After summarizing several recent investigations of Spiritualism, Doyle abruptly concludes his narrative by expressing hope for future demonstrations of psychic ability.

He continued to explore the subject later in his career, authoring The History of Spiritualism, Vol. 2 in 1926 and The Edge of the Unknown in 1929. One
year later, Doyle died of a sudden heart attack at his home in East Sussex, England.