With wit and verve Robin Waterfield brings the bizarre story of hypnotism to life. A lively mixture of popular history science and psychology, Hidden Depths is the definitive work on hypnosisFrom its origins as animal magnetism, as practised by Franz Anton Mesmer, to its modern day use as a health cure and a form of entertainment, hypnosis encompasses many different facets of humanity. Always controversial, the outlandish claims that its zealous believers make are only matched in intensity by the howls of derision that they provoke from sceptics. Hypnotism exists on the periphery of the scientific community, much as it has since its inception. Robin Waterfield approaches the issues with an open mind, carefully stripping the fact from the fancy and the truth from the myth. And as he builds the comprehensive picture of this unusual art other issues are raised. The relationship, for example, between the predilections of society and the popularity of hypnosis.