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Carl Eric Bechhofer Roberts (21 November 1894 – 14 December 1949) was a British author,
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...
, and
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
.


Biography

Roberts was born and raised in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
but relocated to
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
to study
classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
. He worked as a professional writer, producing works on
travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...
, biography,
criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and s ...
, fiction,
paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...
,
translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
and drama. He contributed to ''
The New Age ''The New Age'' was a British weekly magazine (1894–1938), inspired by Fabian socialism, and credited as a major influence on literature and the arts during its heyday from 1907 to 1922, when it was edited by Alfred Richard Orage. It publishe ...
'' magazine. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
he was a trooper of the
9th Lancers The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but w ...
. He met
Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian Mysticism, mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II of Russia, Nicholas II, the ...
during a visit in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.Anonymous. ''Kissed by Rasputin''. ''
Yorkshire Evening Post The ''Yorkshire Evening Post'' is a daily evening publication (delivered to newsagents every morning) published by Yorkshire Post Newspapers in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The paper provides a regional slant on the day's news, and traditi ...
''. 15 December 1949.
Roberts met
Gurdjieff George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (; rus, Гео́ргий Ива́нович Гурджи́ев, r=Geórgy Ivánovich Gurdzhíev, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪd͡ʑ ɡʊrd͡ʐˈʐɨ(j)ɪf; hy, Գեորգի Իվանովիչ Գյուրջիև; c. 1 ...
in Tiflis in 1919. His book ''In Denikin's Russia and the Caucasus, 1919-1920'' (1921) contained the first description of Gurdjieff published in English. His 1928 novel ''This Side Idolatry'' (by the pseudonym "Ephesian") was the first public presentation of the relationship between
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
and the actress
Ellen Ternan Ellen Lawless Ternan (3 March 1839 – 25 April 1914), also known as Nelly Ternan or Nelly Wharton-Robinson, was an English actress known for association with the author Charles Dickens. Birth and family life Ellen Ternan was born in Roches ...
. He was private secretary to Lord Birkenhead (1924-1930). His books were recommended by
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalit ...
. Roberts died in a motor accident in December 1949.


Psychical research

Roberts took interest in psychical research and
spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase ...
, but approached these subjects from a mostly skeptical position. He was the author of ''The Mysterious Madame: A Life of Madame Blavatsky'' (1931), a highly critical biography of Helena Blavatsky. In his book ''The Truth about Spiritualism'' (1932) he came to the conclusion that there is no evidence for the
spirit hypothesis Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) b ...
in
mediumship Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...
. According to the research of Roberts all
séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spea ...
and spiritualist phenomena can be explained by "telepathy, self-deception, fraud or neurosis". Roberts was convinced that the medium
Helen Duncan Victoria Helen McCrae Duncan (née MacFarlane, 25 November 1897 – 6 December 1956) was a Scottish medium best known as the last person to be imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act 1735 for fraudulent claims. She was famous for producing ectopl ...
was a fraud and wrote a foreword to the book ''The Trial of Mrs. Duncan'' (1945) by
Helena Normanton Helena Florence Normanton, QC (14 December 1882 – 14 October 1957) was the first woman to take advantage of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 and join an institution of the legal profession. In November 1922, she was the second woma ...
.


Publications

Non-fiction *''Russia at the Cross-Roads'' (1916) *''A Russian Anthology in English'' (1917) *''Through Starving Russia'' (1921) *''In Denikin's Russia and the Caucasus, 1919-1920'' (1921) *''A Wanderer’s Log'' (1922) *''The Literary Renaissance in America'' (1923) *''Lord Birkenhead: being an account of the life of F.E. Smith, first earl of Birkenhead'' (1926) *''Winston Churchill'' (1927) *''Philip Snowden: An Impartial Portrait'' (1929) *''The Mysterious Madame: A Life of Madame Blavatsky'' (1931) *''The Truth about Spiritualism'' (1932) *''Nurse Cavell: A Play in Three Acts'' (1933) *''The new world of crime; famous American trials'' (1933) *''Sir Travers Humphreys: His Career and Cases'' (1936) *''Stanley Baldwin: Man or Miracle'' (1936) *''Paul Verlaine'' (1937) *''Sir John Simon: Being an Account of the Life And Career of John Allesbrook Simon'' (1938) *''Famous American Trials'' (1947) Fiction *''This Side Idolatry'' (1928, as "Ephesian") *''The Coat of Many Colours'' (1930, as "Ephesian") *''The Jury Disagree'' (1934, with George Goodchild) *''A. B. C.’s Test Case'' (1936, as "Ephesian") *''Bread and Butter. A Novel based on the Life of W. M. Thackeray'' (1936, as "Ephesian") *''A. B. C. Investigates'' (1937, as "Ephesian") *''A. B. C. Solves Five'' (1937, as "Ephesian") *''We Shot an Arrow'' (1939, with George Goodchild) *''The Dear Old Gentleman'' (1940, with George Goodchild) *''Let’s Begin Again'' (1940) *''Danger Abroad'' (1942) *''Don Chicago'' (1944) *''Sunrise in the West'' (1945)


See also

* E. Clephan Palmer


References


External links


The Truth about Spiritualism
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, C. E. Bechhofer 1894 births 1949 deaths 20th-century British writers 20th-century English male writers British male journalists British barristers Critics of Spiritualism British sceptics Critics of Theosophy Helena Blavatsky biographers Parapsychologists Writers from London