The Swan King

Christopher McIntosh was born in England in 1943 and grew up in Edinburgh. He studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University and German at London University. Later, he returned to Oxford to take a doctorate in History. As a writer, he has specialized in the history of ideas, central European history and the Western esoteric tradition. In addition The Swan King, he has written two books on the Rosicrucians, a biography of the French occultist Elphias Levi and his most recent work, Gardens of the Gods, is to be published by I.B.Tauris in 2003.

Preface
The Northern Apollo Reborn
The Captive Years
From Cage to Throne
The Coming of the Friend
The Second Lola
A Triumph, an Idyll and a Parting
Germany in Turmoil
Sophie
Lilla...and Others
Wagnerian Strains
A Crucial Decade 1866-1876
Fantasies in Stone
Dreams of El Dorado
Ludwig II and the Theatre
Forbidden Longings
Farewell to Wagner
The Twilight Years
The Trap Closes
Prophecies Fulfilled
Epilogue: The Cult of the Swan King