The Dark Side of History: Magic in the Making of Man [Michael Edwardes]

[Magic] [History] [Secret History]

The Dark Side of History: Magic in the Making of Man

Michael Edwardes

Stein and Day, NY. 1977. First edition hardcover. Some slight rubbing to cover, signed on the inner leaf, and a tad bit of age appropriate yellowing to top of the block. An excellent copy.

From the publisher, briefly:

"Traces the prominent role played by the occult in human affairs throughout history, showing that magic, forced underground by science and reason, has never ceased to be of great popular and political influence."

I had no real foreknowledge of what to expect in this book, but after spending some time with it, I do recommend it primarily for it's emphasis on the now taken for granted notion that magical practices to represent an unbroken chain of human will dating back to prehistory. That's where the power is. In the ubiquity and easiness with which the human mind comes to accept it. Quite fun and broad in scope. Ambitious!