It seems they are indeed talking about me. And I’m sure a scholar would criticize certain things in my book (and one has privately, with some praise as well), the main being that in many parts I still come across as a conspiracy theorist - which is really funny because the Illuminati were indeed a bona fide conspiracy. She might take a jab at me utilizing Nesta Webster a few times, as well as the over-use of Barruel’s translations in places. Who knows? Perhaps she may also take issue with the way I incorporated some of her own research in parts such as the Pestalozzi bio, or the ideology section, etc. Or maybe she doesn’t like the fact that some of the first search results for her name point to my Bavarian-Illuminati.info site.

I tried contacting Charles Porset too via email to tell him about the fact that there exists a painting of Savalette de Langes, and gave him the exact details of who painted it and when. He was startled because no one knew about it. It was a genuinely important discovery. Then, after that one response, he stopped answering my emails. I can only surmise that he found out that terrance.melanson@gmail.com was actually the conspiracy-theorist-cum-amateur-historian Terry Melanson who writes about the Illuminati.

It may amount to a sort of territorial pissing war.

Whatever the case, I welcome criticism from anyone about anything I research and wish more would do it.

I am pretty sure that Darnton refers to none other that Robert Darnton as well (who is probably one of the best historians alive). And it’s really weird cause I know for a fact that he wrote zip on the Bavarian Illuminati. Nada. Sometimes he covered aspects of the mystical “Illumines” in France - the Mesmerists in particular - but he never conflated them with the Bavarian Illuminati.

If I get lumped together with the Springmeiers and Carrs of the world, however, I will really take offence. My guess is though, she will have a few good things to say about my book and/or my Bavarian Illuminati site.

“Peggy Pawlowski has spent years in the archives of Berlin and Moscow conducting original research into the primary documents and letters of the Illuminati. She offers a serious history of the order and goes on to explore the evolution of the myths surrounding them in the works of Brown, Melanson and Darnton.”

Is the Melanson mentioned above yourself? If so how do you feel being lumped in with mythmakers like Dan Brown? I assume Darnton is Robert Darnton, who I haven’t read but I thought he was supposed to be a legitmate historian. Given the scholarly, academic nature of Perfectibilists I think its a little insulting. Maybe it’s just the way the reviewer frased it and not an intentional slam on part of the writers. Anyway, Illuminatus still remains tops in my books.