Book excerpt: Swedenborg's Secret is the first major study of the eighteenth-century Swedish philosopher and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) to be published in English for over fifty years. Using a wealth of historical material, Lars Bergquist paints a vivid portrait of an ambitious and practical man who was one of the greatest figures of the Enlightenment and who captivated generations of thinkers with his stunning vision of human destiny.