Symonds met Aleister Crowley in 1946, the year before Crowley's death. Crowley's will left the copyright of his works to Symonds and made him Crowley's literary executor, though Crowley's legal status as an undischarged bankrupt meant that the copyrights actually ended up in receivership. At first fascinated by Crowley, Symonds became increasingly critical of his ideas and manners, in particular the use of drugs . He edited, with Kenneth Grant, Crowley's autobiography and a number of other works. He authored four biographical works of his own: The Great Beast, (1952), The Magic of Aleister Crowley (1958), The King of the Shadow Realm (1989) and The Beast 666 (1997).
Abraham Lincoln began his presidency admitting that he knew "little about ships," but he quickly came to preside over the largest national armada to that time, not eclipsed until World War I. Written by prize-winning historian Craig L. Symonds, Lincoln and His Admirals unveils an aspect of Lincoln's presidency unexamined by historians until now, revealing how he managed the men who ran the naval side of the Civil War, and how the activities of the Union Navy ultimately affected the course of history.
Beginning with a gripping account of the attempt to re-supply Fort Sumter-a comedy of errors that shows all too clearly the fledgling president's inexperience - Symonds traces Lincoln's steady growth as a wartime commander-in-chief.
