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A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult

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A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult

By: DK
Narrated by: Susie Riddell
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About this listen

Discover the beguiling history of witchcraft, magic and superstition through the centuries and across the world in this stunningly audiobook.

A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult charts the extraordinary narrative of one of the most interesting and often controversial subjects in the world - from ancient animal worship and shamanism, through alchemy and divination to modern Wicca and the resurgence of the occult in 21st-century literature, cinema and television.

Providing listeners with a comprehensive, balanced and unbiased account of everything from Japanese folklore and Indian witchcraft to the differences between black and white magic and dispelling myths such as those surrounding the voodoo doll and Ouija, this audiobook explores the common human fear of and fascination with spells, superstition and the supernatural.

The perfect introduction to magic and the occult, it explores forms of divination from astrology and palmistry to the Tarot and runestones, mystical plants and potions such as mandrake, the presence of witchcraft in literature from Shakespeare's Macbeth to the Harry Potter series and the ways in which magic has interacted with religion.

The most comprehensive history of witchcraft available, A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult will enthral and fascinate you with its lavish, accessible entries, whether you are a believer or sceptic.

©2020 Dorling Kindersley Ltd (P)2020 DK Audio
Customs & Traditions Magic Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts Religious Studies Social Sciences Parapsychology Witchcraft Divination Tradition Mythology Magic Users Extrasensory Perception Astrology Paranormal Fantasy Shamanism Middle Ages Ancient History Middle East

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All stars
Most relevant  
I liked that it covered many cultures in a detailed manner. It was absolutely easily digestible and interesting.

It has good depth

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It comes hard and fast, with bitesize facts, points, names and dates, perhaps too hard and fast in fact, as more binding language and a slower pace may favour learning. One could just listen twice though. I doubt a better book on the subject matter could exist in the time achieved - a fascinating and impressively comprehensive worldwind of a global history.

A brilliant little mass of information.

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lots of information, but more like a dictionary than a story. I loved hearing about all the different religions.

lots of interesting information

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I get the impression that this is a factual picture book that doesn’t translate to an audiobook format. Loads of facts but no narrative.

Should this be an audiobook?

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I love DK books and read them a lot with my children. Listening to one is challenging however as the reader reads all the captions and (necessarily) jumps from text box to text box. Difficult to follow.

Difficult to follow

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An amazing book, I learnt so much. I found it thoroughly informative and well researched.

Fascinating history into magic and witchcraft

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A stunning overview of the history of witchcraft. From hoodoo to Christianity and every practice known to mankind, this book has it all. Thoroughly inspiring. The author (british) has fantastic pronunciation throughout, making it an easy listen. Not at all robotic or monotonous like some audio books. I highly recommend this to anyone that wishes to learn about witch and magical history.
I will definitely be listening to this again.

Fantastic

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I've realised now where all the references from Harry Potter come from. it's interesting to see how Misticism has evolved through time

inspirations

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Nothing at all left out of this book it has everything very well researched and more information than ever knew about

Very well researched

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The narrator is overall very engaging, though some of her pronunciations are a miss. Otherwise, the history is well researched and clearly presented in what is a short book covering an immensely varied topic of history and sociology.

my main issue is that in the modern section, the author makes the dishearteningly common mistake of thinking all modern magic practices are wiccan when that is simply not true. There is also a clear misunderstanding of what paganism is uniting them under a banner as if they are homogeneous beliefs when they are a loose collection of independent religions and only wiccans follow the wheel of the year, pagans follow the holy calendars of their specific faith.

A good reference book until the chapters starting with Wicca in the final hour-and-a-half.

Great until the end

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