Bryan Wilson (1926–2004) studied for his PhD at the London School of Economics and was Reader in Sociology at Oxford University. He was devoted to research into religion and its role in contemporary society, and was much in demand as a visiting professor in universities throughout the world. He wrote extensively on secularization, and he was an acknowledged authority on sectarian movements, concerning which he acted as a consultant to government agencies and as an expert witness in courts of law in several countries. He contributed articles to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, and the Encyclopaedia of Religion. His books include Sects and Society; Religion in Secular Society; Religious Sects (which has been translated into five languages, including Japanese); Magic and the Millennium; and Religion in Sociological Perspective.