David V. Barrett is a British sociologist specialising in alternative religions and esoteric belief and history. He has contributed to, amongst others, the Independent, Fortean Times, New Scientist, New Statesman and the Catholic Herald. He edited Vector, the critical journal of the British Science Fiction Association, for four years, chaired the Arthur C. Clarke Award for three years and has contributed to several encyclopaedias of SF and fantasy. Many of his twenty-plus books have been on religious and esoteric movements, beliefs and practices, including The New Believers, A Brief History of Secret Societies and A Brief Guide to Secret Religions. His most recent book, The Fragmentation of a Sect, is based on his 2009 PhD thesis from the London School of Economics. He also co-runs the London Fortean Society, for lovers of the weird and wonderful.