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The History of Magic: From Alchemy to Witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the Present

The History of Magic: From Alchemy to Witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the Present

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  • Create Date：2021-05-09 09:51:17
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Chris Gosden
  • ISBN：0241979668
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Summary

A Telegraph Book of the Year

A remarkable， unprecedented account of the role of magic in cultures both ancient and modern -- from the first known horoscope to the power of tattoos。

'Fascinating， original， excellent' Simon Sebag Montefiore
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Three great strands of practice and belief run through human history: science， religion and magic。 But magic - the idea that we have a connection with the universe - has developed a bad reputation。

It has been with us for millennia - from the curses and charms of ancient Greek， Roman and Jewish magic， to the shamanistic traditions of Eurasia， indigenous America and Africa， and even quantum physics today。 Even today seventy-five per cent of the Western world holds some belief in magic， whether snapping wishbones， buying lottery tickets or giving names to inanimate objects。

Drawing on his decades of research， with incredible breadth and authority， Professor Chris Gosden provides a timely history of human thought and the role it has played in shaping civilization， and how we might use magic to rethink our understanding of the world。
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'This is an extraordinary work of learning， written with an exhilarating lightness of touch 。 。 。 It is essential reading。' Francis Pryor， author of Britain BC， Britain AD and The Fens

'Without an unfascinating page' Scotsman

'Chris Gosden shows how magic explores the connections between human beings and the universe in ways different from religion or science， yet deserving of respect' Professor John Barton， author of A History of The Bible

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Reviews

Bodhidasa ，

I very much enjoyed reading this book yet felt it very uneven at times。 Gosden knows his archaeology when it comes to some cultures; others are glossed over。 This may be due to a lack of evidence or a lack of exposure on his part。 By far the strongest component of the book is the way it weaves science， religion， and magic together into the triple helix of human culture。 This， he argues， is our shared cultural DNA。 But it leaves me with many questions about the agreements and disagreements betwee I very much enjoyed reading this book yet felt it very uneven at times。 Gosden knows his archaeology when it comes to some cultures; others are glossed over。 This may be due to a lack of evidence or a lack of exposure on his part。 By far the strongest component of the book is the way it weaves science， religion， and magic together into the triple helix of human culture。 This， he argues， is our shared cultural DNA。 But it leaves me with many questions about the agreements and disagreements between magic and the other two strands。 He raises conflicts but nothing is resolved。 A disappointment， to be honest。 。。。more

David Samuels ，

Lots of interesting facts here， although the author tends to make wide-sweeping arguments without backing them up with sufficient data。

Sara ，

This read too much like a thesis or class lecture full of "I/we will focus on。。。" and "in this section I/we will。。。" and definitions for each section。 This read too much like a thesis or class lecture full of "I/we will focus on。。。" and "in this section I/we will。。。" and definitions for each section。 。。。more

Jody Kirk ，

meh

Rebecca Adcock ，

I almost didn’t count this in my read goal and I might change my mind again later。 I absolutely love research texts but I didn’t have the time to fully devote to this book and skimmed， A LOT。 But， like I said before， I would definitely refer to this for questions later and would contemplate putting it on my own shelf。

Beth ，

Very interesting， but the narrator spoke like a very boring college professor！ I kept nodding off while listening to him。 LOL 😱😱😱

Jbondandrews ，

So much to write about， Chris Gosden covered a lot in 332 pages。 Though I wished he'd expanded more and perhaps had done a volume on each chapter that he wrote。 So much to write about， Chris Gosden covered a lot in 332 pages。 Though I wished he'd expanded more and perhaps had done a volume on each chapter that he wrote。 。。。more

Elizabeth Judd Taylor ，

Excellent broad overview of magic from the Ice Age to the present。

Otempora ，

I have to admit I skimmed a lot of this one。 Part of it might be a me problem - I think I'm a little burned out on nonfiction - but Gosden also packs in a lot of dense detail without really justifying its inclusion。 It's interesting to compare this with Children of Ash and Elm， my last read， which is also written by an archaeologist and also packed with information。 But Neil Price weaves each detail into a vivid narrative picture， helping the reader to imagine a foreign world， and every incl I have to admit I skimmed a lot of this one。 Part of it might be a me problem - I think I'm a little burned out on nonfiction - but Gosden also packs in a lot of dense detail without really justifying its inclusion。 It's interesting to compare this with Children of Ash and Elm， my last read， which is also written by an archaeologist and also packed with information。 But Neil Price weaves each detail into a vivid narrative picture， helping the reader to imagine a foreign world， and every inclusion is chosen with care; Gosden， on the other hand， sometimes seems to get lost in his own descriptions。 I'm sure it's highly relevant and interesting to an archaeologist to know exactly what material the lintel-posts at Stonehenge were made out of， but I'm not sure I needed that information in order to understand the history of magic。 The result is， counterintuitively， a picture that feels somewhat shallow。 The scope of this book is huge - literally every continent， from the earliest prehistory to the present day - and so Gosden moves along at a brisk clip， cramming in information about a given artifact or practice without really justifying each individual inclusion or building them organically into a broader picture。 That said， I'm still very glad to have read this。 Gosden's central thesis - the "triple helix" of magic， religion， and science - is absolutely fascinating and I think he does build a strong case for it here。 I wrote my undergrad thesis on Victorian spiritualism， and refused to indulge in speculation about whether or how it was faked， instead focusing on what it meant to the many sincere believers and how it affected their view of the world。 I found Gosden and myself to be very much simpatico in how we think about human understanding of the universe， though Gosden's emphasis on magic gave me a new lens through which to view some of my previous ideas。 I am by nature a skeptic。 I don't really believe in ghosts or astrology。 But the older I get， the more I learn about other cultures and my own culture's past， the more I chafe at the smug Western assertion of a purely mechanistic universe。 Is it true？ Maybe。 Is it good for us？ I really don't think so， and Gosden lays out a compelling case for why: it cuts us of from networks of relationships that have sustained the human psyche for millennia; it treats the Earth as an inanimate resource to be exploited rather than a vital macro-ecosystem to be preserved; it closes our eyes and our minds to many of the wonders around us; it inflates our egos and withers our humility。 Even if this isn't my most enjoyable read of the last twelve months， it's the one I'd consider the most essential - the one I most want to evangelize， to put into the hands of as many people as possible。 。。。more

Robert ，

This book was a present， but when I saw the title， I confess I gave an inward groan， expecting a load of new age rubbish。 So it came as a pleasant surprise to find that most of this thick book was about archaeological discoveries with hundreds of illustrations。I can't agree with the author's conclusions， which， however， only take up a small part of the closing chapter， but the book as a whole was a fascinating read。 This book was a present， but when I saw the title， I confess I gave an inward groan， expecting a load of new age rubbish。 So it came as a pleasant surprise to find that most of this thick book was about archaeological discoveries with hundreds of illustrations。I can't agree with the author's conclusions， which， however， only take up a small part of the closing chapter， but the book as a whole was a fascinating read。 。。。more

Claire ，

This book focuses mainly on prehistory and archaeology， so it’s not a definitive history of magic， but it’s a good volume to add to the shelf if you’ve already got books that cover classical， medieval and Renaissance magic。 It also has a broader cultural scope than some of the other books I’ve read on the same topic， though the section on Australia was very brief and superficial in comparison to the other sections and there’s still a strong Europe focus。 I like that the author takes a positive v This book focuses mainly on prehistory and archaeology， so it’s not a definitive history of magic， but it’s a good volume to add to the shelf if you’ve already got books that cover classical， medieval and Renaissance magic。 It also has a broader cultural scope than some of the other books I’ve read on the same topic， though the section on Australia was very brief and superficial in comparison to the other sections and there’s still a strong Europe focus。 I like that the author takes a positive view of magic and tries to understand it from an insider perspective。 I definitely think there are things we can learn from magical traditions， though I’m not convinced by his argument that we need to adopt a magical point of view in order to solve the problems created by capitalism and over consumption。 He doesn’t delve into the harmful consequences of magical worldviews （eg prejudices， persecution of people who are different， witch hunts etc） so his comments at the end of the book are a too little idealistic for me。 。。。more

Ali ，

So incredibly interesting！ I loved it。

pugs ，

in all， 5 stars if you're interested in magic， namely eurasian。 i was disappointed by little to no focus on latin america， by comparison， and north america gets just a few chapters in regards to native populations， but it makes a bit more sense knowing gosden is namely a professor of european archaeology （university of oxford） and a british museum trustee。 cave artwork， tattoos， rock art， sculpture and burial of multiple types of animals with human bodies， there is a heavy focus of trying to con in all， 5 stars if you're interested in magic， namely eurasian。 i was disappointed by little to no focus on latin america， by comparison， and north america gets just a few chapters in regards to native populations， but it makes a bit more sense knowing gosden is namely a professor of european archaeology （university of oxford） and a british museum trustee。 cave artwork， tattoos， rock art， sculpture and burial of multiple types of animals with human bodies， there is a heavy focus of trying to connect how magic works - with - the earth， and often notes cultural respect for nature as essential （compared to modern， capitalistic， earth is temporary， use use use）。 it brings into question why would the west scoff at some cultures believing a home is a living entity， a family member， even， when westerners are obsessed with private property and keeping certain buildings and grounds as pristine and as similar to when they were first built， "preserving history。" also westerners naming plenty of material possessions and animals， keeping charms for good luck; wall markings， baseball bats， cars， not breaking mirrors， 13， 666: magic is so ingrained in western society， yet we "other" the rest of the world。 near the end gosden discusses discovering how plants and trees "talk" to each other chemically， quantum physics， and how verbiage in all magic， science， and religion can come off as semantics， spirit to one is energy to another， and the like; all three "branches" are trying to determine what consciousness and matter are and if/how they connect。 started out as a bunch of facts and ends on a pretty philosophical note。 some reviews complain of the density of information， but i think it flows nicely and doesn't drag on in any particular place or time， it's a broad scope， and gosden pulls it off。 。。。more

Sherri ，

（view spoiler）[ Magic allows for a sense of kinship with all things， living or not。 And with kinship comes responsibility， the same sort of responsibility we feel towards family and friends。 Whereas science asks， 'Can we do that？'， magic asks， 'Should we？' （hide spoiler）] （This quote is near the end of the book so I put it in spoilers just in case。 :）So much work went into this book， that I feel I should give it 4 or 5 stars。 Sadly after the first chapter， What is Magic and Why is it Import （view spoiler）[ Magic allows for a sense of kinship with all things， living or not。 And with kinship comes responsibility， the same sort of responsibility we feel towards family and friends。 Whereas science asks， 'Can we do that？'， magic asks， 'Should we？' （hide spoiler）] （This quote is near the end of the book so I put it in spoilers just in case。 :）So much work went into this book， that I feel I should give it 4 or 5 stars。 Sadly after the first chapter， What is Magic and Why is it Important？ I felt lost。 Knowing it is me （lack of personal knowledge）， this book is very informative and is structured in sections of time around the world。 Once I get more knowledge in basic alchemy， witchcraft， and maybe learn a bit more on certain time periods， this book will still teach me things。 。。。more

Jon ，

Wow！ What a read。Very dense。 Very archaeology-focused， but really a pretty incredible thesis well defended。

Michelle Rupe ，

Pretty fascinating stuff。

PottWab Regional Library ，

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Aurora ，

Excellent！ A wonderful exploration through history of archeological evidence of human practice in magic， medicine and science。 The chapters about the Eurasian steppe is fascinating。 Lots of information that was new to me。 The author's interpretation of human behavior is respectful and insightful。 I was less interested in the Roman-Greco era and their practices。 I started to understanding as I read， that the author is weaving the interconnection between what we call magic， science， medicine。 The Excellent！ A wonderful exploration through history of archeological evidence of human practice in magic， medicine and science。 The chapters about the Eurasian steppe is fascinating。 Lots of information that was new to me。 The author's interpretation of human behavior is respectful and insightful。 I was less interested in the Roman-Greco era and their practices。 I started to understanding as I read， that the author is weaving the interconnection between what we call magic， science， medicine。 The last two chapters sum if his perspective and confirms his position that we are experiencing an expansion of what we know into what we may have formally thought as ' magical '。 His last chapter acknowledges the concept of interconnected consciousness - humans， animals， plants， things。 I enjoyed the scholarly approach and ability to uncouple the human fear and misunderstanding of magical practices。 Highly recommend。 。。。more

Catherine ，

So this book very much reads like a master’s thesis。 It’s an inexhaustible source of information regarding magic and its interconnectivity with religion and science throughout the course of history。 I’d even go so far as to say that it should be required reading for anyone who calls themselves a witch， a mystic， superstitious， or even religious and scientific！ But it probably should be read over the course of a semester to really take it in。 What I think I liked best is how it was wrapped up in So this book very much reads like a master’s thesis。 It’s an inexhaustible source of information regarding magic and its interconnectivity with religion and science throughout the course of history。 I’d even go so far as to say that it should be required reading for anyone who calls themselves a witch， a mystic， superstitious， or even religious and scientific！ But it probably should be read over the course of a semester to really take it in。 What I think I liked best is how it was wrapped up in the end， tying magic to the idea of KNOWING and sentience and asking yourself what is inert if anything。 My interest in food and the strangeness of people who won’t eat animals or animal byproducts because。。。 eyes？。。。 or they are the only sentient beings on the planet？ This book brings that theory into question。 Ask the mycorrhizal fungi that serves as an information highway for all life underground。 Or the grass that signals to other plants that an herbivore is out chopping away by sending out that scent we associate with summer。 Never mind the plants don’t understand that a lawn more isn’t exactly an herbivore。 But I digress。 This is a fascinating book with a wealth of information and food for thought regarding our current world and its accelerated warming and rampant capitalism。 Approach it with an open mind， time， and patience。 。。。more

Amy L。 Campbell ，

Maaaaaaaaan this baby can fit SO MUCH magical information in it。 It was a lot。 Not in a bad way。 But a lot。 And the feel good conclusion is magic never really went away， it's not going away， and maybe we should kind of direct it to modern day problems， which， hey， why not？ Can't be any worse than thoughts and Prayers amiright？ Maaaaaaaaan this baby can fit SO MUCH magical information in it。 It was a lot。 Not in a bad way。 But a lot。 And the feel good conclusion is magic never really went away， it's not going away， and maybe we should kind of direct it to modern day problems， which， hey， why not？ Can't be any worse than thoughts and Prayers amiright？ 。。。more

Julie ，

As a practitioner of modern paganism and witchcraft， I'm always excited to read a book about how the Craft evolved from early practitioners of magic。 This book does just that， explaining how early civilizations viewed and practiced magic。 It's a comprehensive book for early eras of magic from an archeologist。 Unfortunately， modern magic is given only a few chapters and is honestly pretty vague and often inaccurate。 While Gosden shows a deep understanding of magic in ancient and medieval cultures As a practitioner of modern paganism and witchcraft， I'm always excited to read a book about how the Craft evolved from early practitioners of magic。 This book does just that， explaining how early civilizations viewed and practiced magic。 It's a comprehensive book for early eras of magic from an archeologist。 Unfortunately， modern magic is given only a few chapters and is honestly pretty vague and often inaccurate。 While Gosden shows a deep understanding of magic in ancient and medieval cultures， he completely lacks an understanding of what it means in modern culture。 The Golden Dawn and Wicca， the two most influential traditions of magic in modern history， are given only a few paragraphs。 Gosden seems to almost pick out names from a bad Wikipedia article。 We hear about Aleister Crowley and Gerald Gardner but not about other important people that shaped our modern history such as Eliphas Levi， Madame Blavatsky， Scott Cunningham， Z。 Budapest or Starhawk。 In one section， he even begins discussing Freud， giving him credit in the movement when Freud actually has little to no influence on modern magic。 He discusses Freud's interest in spiritualism but for some reason completely ignores Freud's protege Carl Jung who dedicated much of his life to studying the occult and alchemy！ Overall this book is great for understanding the ancient to medieval history of magic， but it's clear Gosden did very little research into the modern history of magic。 。。。more

Latricia ，

It has useful information。 Reads much like a history textbook。 Because the author is not pagan or a believes in the idea of it （assumingly） feels very drawn out。 It can be a resource for Pagans，witches， and wiccans looking back at the origins and history of the life。 I at this time could not find a reason to want to read it。 Very much skimmed it focusing more on Chapter 8 The magics of Africa。。。， 10。 Modern and future magic，and the timeline global history of magic。 I felt that there was a lot mi It has useful information。 Reads much like a history textbook。 Because the author is not pagan or a believes in the idea of it （assumingly） feels very drawn out。 It can be a resource for Pagans，witches， and wiccans looking back at the origins and history of the life。 I at this time could not find a reason to want to read it。 Very much skimmed it focusing more on Chapter 8 The magics of Africa。。。， 10。 Modern and future magic，and the timeline global history of magic。 I felt that there was a lot missing。 From the known and unknown knowledge。 A lot of key PWW were mentioned and referenced。 Over all the book is average and without all the fact and data below average for me。 Maybe when I am older and trying to piece together my lineage it would be useful but for now it was not。 Also a lot of the caribbeans and islands where not really mentioned only three times。 。。。more

Cath （Cather。reads） ，

I loved reading about the history of magic and how alongside of religion and science， people have used magic to interpret the world around them。 I was a little skeptical of the introduction where the author seemed to insist that magic was real， but by the end I understood that it's okay to leave your mind open to what we can discover about magic， and it's simply another way of interacting with the world。 I loved reading about the history of magic and how alongside of religion and science， people have used magic to interpret the world around them。 I was a little skeptical of the introduction where the author seemed to insist that magic was real， but by the end I understood that it's okay to leave your mind open to what we can discover about magic， and it's simply another way of interacting with the world。 。。。more

Beth ，

Informative but not grabbing me。 Very academic; not enough detail on specific rituals or beliefs to keep my interest。

Liz Roden ，

Did not finish。 Interesting and well-written， will have to come back to it， I just have more books waiting in line to read and this one is going to take some brain power to digest。

Lee Barry ，

I did not read this in its entirely， as it is a peripheral interest。 But the parts I did read were excellent。 Definitely worthy of some of your attention。

Ions ，

This is a long and pretty detailed history of man kind and their use of magic。。。spending a lot of time on the more mundane kinda and touching briefly on CHAOS magic， OTO， and Thelema。It's pretty dry and sometimes a lot of time is spend with some people's from 10，000 years ago。。。and it might seem like filler。Still， great read， i really enjoyed it This is a long and pretty detailed history of man kind and their use of magic。。。spending a lot of time on the more mundane kinda and touching briefly on CHAOS magic， OTO， and Thelema。It's pretty dry and sometimes a lot of time is spend with some people's from 10，000 years ago。。。and it might seem like filler。Still， great read， i really enjoyed it 。。。more

Ashley ，

Didn' finish， intro turned me off completely。 Come in expecting a book about the history of magic， leave realizing this man wants magic to endure even though， his quote， "Societies in which magic was dominant， was not harmonious and peaceful， because of their state of oneness with the universe。 There was considerable violence， social collapse and disruption。。。。"There's more， I just don't have the time to type out 4 pages full of complaints and refutations this morning， nor do I care enough to at Didn' finish， intro turned me off completely。 Come in expecting a book about the history of magic， leave realizing this man wants magic to endure even though， his quote， "Societies in which magic was dominant， was not harmonious and peaceful， because of their state of oneness with the universe。 There was considerable violence， social collapse and disruption。。。。"There's more， I just don't have the time to type out 4 pages full of complaints and refutations this morning， nor do I care enough to at this point。 Waste of time。 。。。more

Jenia ，

Hm， yeah， idk。 To be honest I think the audiobook ruined my enjoyment of this one - the pause and rhythm was just off enough for me that I kept getting distracted， and as this book is pretty information-dense， it was hard to get through。 I think I'm also just not open-minded enough for some of the proposals。 I mean I'm trying！ Anyway， putting that aside， the history aspects were interesting。 Hm， yeah， idk。 To be honest I think the audiobook ruined my enjoyment of this one - the pause and rhythm was just off enough for me that I kept getting distracted， and as this book is pretty information-dense， it was hard to get through。 I think I'm also just not open-minded enough for some of the proposals。 I mean I'm trying！ Anyway， putting that aside， the history aspects were interesting。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The History of Magic: From Alchemy to Witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the Present

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The History of Magic: From Alchemy to Witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the Present&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The History of Magic: From Alchemy to Witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the Present&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0