This interesting study centres a subject that is all too often mentioned in passing， consigned to the margins or footnotes or ignored completely in other works of history。 Magic and occult powers such as conjuration， divination and alchemy are often disregarded by modern historians， largely because we don't tend to take them very seriously。 This ignores the fact that many or even most people in the past （both pre-modern or even more recently） took them very seriously indeed， and so they sometime This interesting study centres a subject that is all too often mentioned in passing， consigned to the margins or footnotes or ignored completely in other works of history。 Magic and occult powers such as conjuration， divination and alchemy are often disregarded by modern historians， largely because we don't tend to take them very seriously。 This ignores the fact that many or even most people in the past （both pre-modern or even more recently） took them very seriously indeed， and so they sometimes played an often important part in British politics。 Young's very useful book examines how things such as consulting angels， summoning demons or predicting the king's death were not oddities or amusing eccentricities in the medieval and early modern worlds， but we often matters of great importance。 Certainly the people who rose in the ranks， fell from grace or lost their lives over such matters and those who sponsored or opposed them considered these things as serious as trade， diplomacy， war or anything else modern historians consider much more central to affairs。Young covers a lot of ground and a span of many centuries， so sometimes very interesting elements and anecdotes come as short mentions in the onrush of broader discussion。 So we get the likely occult significance of the fact that monarchs of Britain throne at coronation is placed over a very specific disc of Egyptian onyx set into the floor of Westminster Abbey。 Or we are told of John de Walden， who was imprisoned in the Tower of London by 1350 by Edward III with instructions to use his arcane arts to turn out a fortune for the king （he failed）。 Young's extensive notes will help interested readers to read further on elements that are mention briefly or in passing。 As a careful overview of a neglected subject， this is a very useful contribution to the literature on magic in history。 。。。more