An Edinburgh professor who once moved easily through glittering continental lodges breaks silence. Drawing on Bavarian documents and the German journal Religions Begebenheiten (Religious Occurrences), John Robison traces how late-eighteenth-century Masonry and allied secret societies bled into politics. First issued in 1797, this faithful reproduction of his exposé presents the claims about Weishaupt’s Illuminati, their methods, and alleged links to the French Revolution — now framed by a brief publisher’s introduction. Readers can examine the sources and weigh the argument without modern rewrites.