Christopher Dell

First of all, this book is heavy. And for good reason. Each page is a glossy, gorgeously crafted series of text and illustrations. Aesthetically, this book is absolutely gorgeous. The font is very gothic, the front and back covers are eye-catchingly laid-out, and each and every illustration is rendered in such detail that the only thing reminding you that it's not the real copy is the gloss.

The content of the book is - essentially - a summary of the history of the occult and magic since the beginning of human society. No mean feat. Dell manages to give insight and background to magic from the early humans, to the Middle Ages, to the Renaissance, to today. He does so with a critical eye - one that isn't dismissive of the subject, and one that gives weight to the topic. Whether or not magic is real, this book gives a detailed and respectful look at the history of the magical arts and sciences (and tricksters), with biographical insights to certain individuals. Reading this gives you a really good perspective and understanding on how magic has influenced and developed our society. For example, alchemy developed into the modern science of chemistry. The term "mesmerise" comes from the work of Dr Mesmer, who thought you could act upon individuals "from a distance".


Dell gives each section of history (arranged in chronological order) it's own depth and look. His style of writing is interesting and often mildly dry. But what gives Dell his killer edge in this book, is the sheer amount of detail and research he's done. And not just into western occultism, but also Eastern and native occultism. Dell draws links between the various world and historical cultures and makes it feel like there are similarities and links between their magicks. One could reasonably say, that after reading this book, the history of magic is more a history of humanity's desire to understand and change our environment and others, and the history of our interaction - he points out that western magic is influenced by Arabic scholars, Indian mysticisms, and ancient Druidic beliefs.


The only criticism of this book, is well... This book is really heavy. It makes it difficult to physically read.

Otherwise, I reccomend this book wholeheartedly to anyone interested in the occult or magic, in any shape or form.
… (mer)

The pictures are pretty but it's a bit all over the place, plus you have to go to the back of the book to get the picture credits to see if the illustration is contemporary to the topic being discussed or a later impression, which can be important because pictures can be coloured by culture, learning and biases and what the artists is commenting about.

This book left me wanting more, more detail, more information and defiintely a better time0line. It starts from very eurocentric classical history bias and runs through the european experience before including african and american and it's a fairly superficial look. Howver the bibliography is extensive.

An interesting coffee table book about magic and the occult.… (mer)