Poet, Magician, Mountaineer, Polemicist and Pornographer, Aleister Crowley was the most famous, or infamous, name in twentieth century occultism. The popular image of him as, in the words of Francis King, &quot;an insatiable sexual athlete, a pimp who lived on the immoral earnings of his girl-friends, and a junkie who daily took enough heroin to kill a roomful of people&quot;, has a basis in fact; but there were other, less obnoxious and despicable aspects of this highly original character.<br><br>Crowley’s greatest legacy is his eclectic occult system: his Magick persists, a potent synthesis of Golden Dawn magic, oriental esoteric techniques, sexual magic, and the all-encompassing Law of Thelema with its two fundamental principles, &quot;Every man and woman is a star&quot; and the notorious &quot;Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be the Whole of the Law&quot;. With his usual flair and style, Colin Wilson brings this complex and enigmatic figure to life and provides an engrossing portrait of the self-styled Great Beast, the man whom the contemporary press dubbed The Wickedest Man in the World.