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  • A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult

  • By: DK
  • Narrated by: Susie Riddell
  • Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (69 ratings)

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A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult

By: DK
Narrated by: Susie Riddell
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Summary

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
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What listeners say about A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

It has good depth

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

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A brilliant little mass of information.

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.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

lots of interesting information

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

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Should this be an audiobook?

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.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Difficult to follow

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.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating history into magic and witchcraft

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

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

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.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

inspirations

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

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Very well researched

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

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great until the end

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.

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2 people found this helpful