Book description
A Telegraph Book of the Year
A remarkable, unprecedented account of the role of magic in cultures both ancient and modern -- from the first known horoscope to the power of tattoos.
'Fascinating, original, excellent' Simon Sebag Montefiore
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Three great strands of practice and belief run through human history:…
Why read it?
1 author picked The History of Magic as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I am awed by the ambition of this book, which really does cover everything suggested by the title.
The author is a Professor of Archaeology at Oxford and as his bio says he also worked as a curator at the Pitt Rivers Museum there, so his expertise is clear.
He writes with a very broad sweep, and his arguments that key elements of magic can be traced across wide spans of time and space might be controversial – but this book is a huge and fascinating treasure trove of information.
For anyone who wants to know about the history of…
From Anne's list on Merlin and magic.
If you love The History of Magic...
December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
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