Albert Pike was born at Boston Massachusetts in 1809, the eldest of six children. A precocious pupil, at the age of 15 he passed the Harvard University entrance exam but could not attend because of lack of funds. Instead, he joined a number of hunting/trading expeditions, travelling west until finally settling around Fort Smith, Arkansas.

In 1850, at age 41, Pike was initiated into the Craft and just 8 years later, he was elevated to the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite's Southern Jurisdiction. His formidable intellect devoured all things metaphysical and esoteric, knowledge that he incorporated into a detailed exposition of the Masonic Brotherhood, its myths and symbols, in Morals and Dogma.

The present volume covers the first five degrees of the Craft: Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master, Secret Master and Perfect Master. It will prove invaluable to those considering joining the Masonic Fraternity, and to the initiated Mason who has, so far, found the explanations and rituals he has undergone strangely perfunctory, meaningless or simply disappointing. Morals & Dogma seeks to remedy this, and reveals the Craft as a living philosophy of life, steeped in esoteric knowledge that links the seeker with the most profound Truths of mystical thought. Written on many levels, the book will repay much study and re-reading.