Probably the most comprehensive book on the history of magic I’ve seen. Beautiful illustrations, thorough and interesting spanning from prehistory to modern times. I’ve purchased this for my personal library.

This was an interesting book about the history of witchcraft and the Occult and I really enjoyed it.

A wonderful resource and history text with fascinating things to learn and detailed histories of practices and customs

2/5 stars

🐻 Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this e-arc!


✨It was only fine. Not that good of a novel and i was expecting more as i was fine with another boo from the publisher

This rich, interesting book provides a lot of useful hostory and information regarding the occult. I love the textbook style setup which takes me back to school and makes me feel very comfortable like I'm earning in an academic style about something I love. This is a great informative book that I would recommend to anyone interested in occult aspects.

Although Suzannah Lipscomb is cited as author of this tome, a good number of academics contributed to this compendium of angels, demons, and the metaphysical beliefs of many cultures. Ancient roots are given their fair share of basics: Arabic, Celtic, Norse, Finnish, Jewish, Chinese, Japanese, Hindu, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Mayan traditions included. Short but concise pieces run the gamut from charms to fairy tales, astrology to voodoo, with a good sampling of modern history from the Renaissance to New Age beliefs and luminaries.
Like so many other of its publications, DK has an unlimited amount of graphic resources to produce a visually handsome work, which makes up for some of its superficialities. And as always, DK gives credit where credit is due on illustrations and copyright material. (Though not important to some readers, there’s a well-crafted index that truly aids research and reference tasks.)

I think this is the most comprehensive book I have ever picked up regarding Magick and the occult. We discover the roots of practices still common today and even see ancient spells. This is a wonderful tool for anyone from beginner to experienced practioner who would like to learn more about the history of this subject matter.

I'm actually in love with this book. It contains so much information. It's an archive on the history of witchcraft, from ancient spells and gods to modern day wicca practices. It's really nice to see the origins of witchcraft and analyse how we've evolved in our magical practices throughout the years.

The Wide World of Occult History

I have studied the occult and metaphysics for over 30 years, and I don't think I've ever seen such a comprehensive look at the history of magic and the occult. While, of course, this is not a deep dive into any particular topic, the breadth of this work is quite stunning. It is divided into 5 time periods, from prehistory to the modern age. It looks at the beliefs and practices of different cultures and religions (including early paganism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, etc.) over time, occasionally spotlighting a particular person or group of people or some other big moment in the history of magic, witchcraft, and the occult, like the Salem witch trials and or pervasive occultism that hides in plain view, like the spirit of Christmas. While the book is mostly Eurocentric after the prehistory section, it does look at the various practices from the Middle and Far East, the Americas, and Africa to a lesser extent. Some topics cannot be simply proscribed to a religion or particular country, and these are explored as well, like the idea of “cunning folk.”

The roots of practices we still see today are explored, like the various branches of astrology, tarot, and runes. Movements are explored as well, like spiritualism. Of course, there are several spreads just about the persecution of witches in different time periods. Hidden societies are also touched upon, like Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry. As with most DK books, this book is full of images, many of which I've seen before but others that were completely new to me. We see ancient sculpture, medieval and Renaissance paintings, and photographs from the modern age. Honestly, I found this a fascinating read. I had picked up bits and pieces of magical history over time, of course, but it was nice to see so many things in one book and so wonderfully illustrated. The book also has a four-page glossary and an extensive index to help you find just the piece of information that you want to find. However, most of the topics in this book are so fascinating that I suggest just jumping in and starting to read! Highly recommended.

This is an absolutely gorgeous book! It was hard to read as an ebook though, and I look forward to seeing the print version to fully read the material.

* I was provided a free copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review*

It took me a while to finish this one because it’s a textbook, more than anything, and on an average person’s shelf, serves more as a reference book or a survey of occultism, witchcraft, or alternative spiritual practices from around the world.

I could see this as a great required text for an anthropology class, or a book on world magic. Most subjects get 2-3 pages, so there isn’t a lot of depth given to each subject — but it does start in prehistoric times and ends in the present day, and touches on magical, occult, or spiritual traditions from all over the world, so the author had to stick to just the basics.

There’s some great art and photography, and it’s a great starting point to help you figure out what you’d like to read about in greater detail. It also serves to show that magic and occultism has existed across cultures since (literally) the beginning of time — with or without the influence of other cultures. Sometimes, the overlap in colonialized cultures is evident, and in others, seems less so, but that may be due to the whitewashing of global history, rather than a lack of symbiotic influence.

While I wouldn’t exactly call this book a riveting read, I can see a lot of college courses and academic applications where it would be right at home. As it stands, it was interesting to read in 2-10 page chunks, and I’m glad to have it as a reference resource in my library.

I enjoyed this book immensely!! I enjoyed the clear and concise history of all things magical. I enjoyed the vivid and colorful pictures that accompanied this book. It was a great book! I voluntarily read this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a great overview of witchcraft and magic for the common audience and DK has just a knack for illustration and description. I think this will be a great seller.

Thank you to NetGalley and DK books for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a topic that as always fascinated me and DK delivers another gorgeous book with a lots of historical information and beautiful illustrations and photos. Certain parts were definitely more interesting to me - like the Ouija board ( I mean everyone owned one these at some point right ? ) and tarot cards .

An educational approach to looking into the history of occult and witchcraft, this was an interesting read and insightful. The research was fairly thorough and it pointed to certain aspects of history that not many may know of about the occult. Very well put together this book would be more purposeful for someone who is a researcher rather than someone looking to practice the craft. However, I do feel that this book does give insight to the past and is still a decent source of information.

This book is a great introduction to a variety of magical topics from ancient days to modern times. At times it did read a bit like a textbook, but I loved reading it despite that. I think anyone interested in magic of any kind will find something they enjoy in this book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

This is a well written history of magic that is very well designed. It does read like a text book, but since I was interested in the subject, I found no problem reading the whole thing. The images that accompany the writing on each pages are very interesting and compliment the information.

a good concise book on the history of magic and related elements. I got this to use for reference for a fiction book I am writing, and it worked well for clarifying some areas where I was confused and needed to refine.

An incredible reference book as the fascination with the unknown is explored chronologically with annotated illustrations and sidebars for deeper context.
One can see how a fascination with spirits developed over time as the book goes back to ancient times up to the present day. Example includes the Witches of Endor that King Saul went to see. Knights of the Templar. Harry Potter fans will be entranced to see the philosopher's stone, the Mandrakes, and other things that J. K. Rowling used in the books.
An easy to use glossary and index. Overall layout is suberb.

This book is a wealth of information and will be an important addition to the shelves of anyone looking to research the history of anything in the realm of magic and the occult. I enjoyed the thousands of color photos and facts jam packed into this book. This is definitely one to purchase for a research oriented/nonfiction collection.