Includes bibliographic references (p.445-472) and index.

Can the living communicate with the dead? Many believe that spirits are constantly about us and that it is possible, through a variety of means, to speak to them and to have them speak to us. Author Buckland looks at these methods of communication, their history, and the personalities involved throughout the past three hundred years of this eternal quest. Includes accounts of ghosts and hauntings, levitation and trances, astral projection, psychic surgery, selfpainting portraits, crystal gazing, predictions, and poltergeists. Mediums, clairvoyants, telepaths, and other well-known people connected to the field worldwide are profiled, as are notorious fakes and frauds. Spirit beliefs among the famous, including Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, and Mae West, are examined.--From publisher description.

Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2009. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.