In reading Let the Darkness Shine, you will notice that while each chapter can be read, viewed, and ultimately understood, of its own accord, as an individual work, so too, when taken as a collective of essays and poems, the book, forms an unusually holistic, if not what someone might call wholesome, view of reality. Basically, the world today. What brought us here? Where are we going? What are the consequences of caring, ultimately doing, or not, something about the human condition, in your own world, as the one at large, today? Make no mistake about it, the book does not give any 'formulaic' answers, as quick-fixes. Nor is it a simple admonition on ethics, or 'trendy' approach to solving the problems of humanity at large. It is however, a foundation, if not quite a monastic one, though strongly stressing history and culture, as teacher, for the future of humanity. This, from its often murky past, to a precarious present, and hopefully, a more optimistic, if not quite certain, future. In short, if not claiming to have all the answers, by presenting certain facts, observations, and implicit conclusions, my book does, so too hopefully, ask questions that may point some, those willing to listen, in a genuinely different direction. What led me to this work? As the son of a former Soviet dissident, Arkady Lvov, himself a well published writer, I had found that my life, as I lived it, across east and west, had forced me to see and wonder, about many things, great and small, pleasant and less so, alike. From the back streets of Odessa, in the Ukraine, where I was born, to all 5 boroughs of New York, where I spent much of my youth, since arriving in the U.S, unto to Moscow, and later, St. Petersburg Russia, where I had spent well over a decade, in my adult years, I have been around. On a yet more personal note, once having attended medical school abroad, sometimes feeling myself more a specimen than student, I ultimately decided that literature may be as good a venue for healing the ills of humanity, as any medical procedures out there today. Some may disagree, that too is fine. On the more technical side of things, Let the Darkness Shine starts by examining the works of modern classical American song writers, Bob Marley, Jim Morrison, and John Lennon, from a whole new perspective - to say the least. How so? Basically, I look at the unrealized dreams and hopes of America's several generations. Yet, with my own lyrics, combined with fragments of theirs, I create words for songs, that epitomize new generations lost, and have thus far, remained unsung. In being part of those disenfranchised, I suppose the book, in some ways, was a search for myself, perhaps some others, who would help me answer that. Over the past 50 years, what were people, east to west, hoping for? What do they have today? Is there still something to look forward to? Hmmm..... Please understand, this is not a book about a return to grass roots movements, folk singers, or the 60's. Let the Darkness Shine, as its name implies, goes to things darker, in a newer light. As such, the work quickly transcends mere sentiments, delving into forgotten history, one not taught in schools. Subejct including, though not exclusive to, notions of how masonic influences help shape modern society. Is this for the better or worse of man? YOU decide! Ultimately, the book asks, "Am I better?" And if so, for what? For, or against the status-quo? If looking to the image of the original rebel in creation, where does one go? Hence, the book flows from the words of Bob Marley, to ones of the fallen angel, and his indictment of humanity, and why it is even here at all. Esoterica aside, the text also contains chapters of prose, not lyrics, which depict Russia, as often unseen by outsiders. An additional essay deals with an existential conflict of the thinker, perhaps unlike Albert Camus, but in vein similar. En