The tenth volume of the Dictionnaire du monde religieux dans la France contemporaine reference book series, it was published in 2001 by Éditions Beauchesne [fr].

The first section, written by Chantin, notes how more prominent figures in fringe religious history were rarely discussed, and were excluded in earlier volumes in the series.

The second section, written by Bernard Vignot, includes a history of recent marginal religious developments in France as well as Apostolic Church succession.

Paul Airiau follows the history of millennialist movements and their relationship with the Church; Jacques Maître [fr] then discusses the concept of "visionary mysticism"; the phenomenon of people claiming contact with the supernatural, from whom they receive some sort of divine message.

Following this, Jean-Pierre Laurant defines and follows the history of the term and usage of the word esotericism, describing esoteric works as mainting a strong connection to Christianity.

Serge Caillet discusses the history of "initiatory societies", including Neo-Templarism (Knights Templar revival movements) from its founding in the 19th century to the 1990s, as well as Rosicrucianism, and masonic organizations and rites.

[3] It is the tenth volume of the Dictionnaire du monde religieux dans la France contemporaine, a series of encyclopedic dictionaries which focus on religious aspects.

"[2] Séguy singled out Cabanel's introductory segment as "illuminating" and Ladous' as "exemplary", and said most contributors to the volume had an "undeniable knowledge of the movements or groups to which the individuals they deal with belong."