The History of British Magic After Crowley: Kenneth Grant, Amado Crowley, Chaos Magic, Satanism, Lovecraft, the Left Hand Path, Blasphemy and Magical Morality [Paperback]

Mr Evans devotes quite a lot of space to telling the reader what he proposes to write about and then seems to go off on a tangent, rambling on about something else, particularly a long diatribe about the left hand path which goes nowhere at all. The book is interesting in parts but in my opinion falls short of providing a comprehensive history of magic(K) in the UK.
He fails to mention organisations like the Order of the cubic stone, and magicians like Madeleine Montalban and references to other practicing magicians are sketchy and incomplete. It concentrates on Kenneth Grant and Amado Crowley who are far from representative of post Crowleyan magic(K) in the UK as any internet search will show. What the book needs more than anything is a good editor to knock it into shape as Mr Evans writing style reminds me of A E Waite on a bad day.

. . .is a dangerous thing, then some knowledge may be positively lethal. A quarter way through this self-regarding tome and I was already losing the will to live. Will I survive before terminal boredom sets in? Probably not. There are certain magicians and occultists who resemble computer nerds in their inability to see the wood for the trees. Sadly, Dave Evans appears to be one one of them, obsessed as he is with his own take on magical history, one which elevates a comparatively minor player - Amado Crowley - into a major figure. See, Dave, here's the thing: magic is not confined to your own circle, or those whom you personally know. And by the way: Alex Saunders had the same sort of influence on magical practice and development as Paris Hilton has on haute-couture: more consumer than originator.
It's this accent on Dave's personal experiences that destroy what could and should have been a landmark book. For example, he spends a long time, some would say too long, in describing the cultural and social background in the UK - with the occasional US reference - post Crowley's death. He isolates those influences that, in his opinion, helped develop something of a magical renaissance which gave forth Chaos, or Kaos, Magic. And somehow in this catalogue, he manages to ignore the movie industry. No mention of Rosemary's Baby, The Omen or The Exorcist. No mention of Hammer's Dracula series. . .movies which may be beneath a modern magician's contempt, but which were hugely influential in their day. Dave Evans also manages to ignore the influence quantum mechanics has had on the whole subject of magic, from The Dancing Wu Li Masters - which compared quantum with the Tao - to M John Harrison's superb novel, 'Light'. It's enough to make a good Gnostic despair. Check out Amazon, Dave, and see how many books there are which combine magic and quantum. Justina Robson would be a good start. Which leads to another point: This book does seem to be, well, just a tad sexist. This is not a PC cri de coeur, only a reminder that a great deal of recent magical development has been undertaken by women. Although come to think of it, those pesky Druids always were ever so slightly chauvinistic. Have beard, will cast runes. Computer nerdish, too. This is a book that promises a great deal and delivers little more than one could divine from the Atlantis Bookshop's noticeboard. All too often it sighs with a breathless oh-wow approach better suited to a review of the latest computer game. It began life as a PhD thesis (what could Dave's supervisor have been thinking?) and it shows: too many unecessary footnotes; far too many student-like jokes and asides; pointless non-sequiturs; points unmercifully belaboured; endless pointed comments about the hapless Amado - like we really care? - which would be more at home in a blog. Oh, and Dave: if you're going to mention JK Rowling (and we do all, actually, know how rich she is), then you really should mention Philip Pullman and his Dark Materials. Discworld has a certain relevance, too. Finally, this book acts as an awful warning to never, ever, try and edit your own work. Or ask friends and relations to help. Hire a professional and listen to them. Learn about structure and syntax. And think about your book from the reader's point of view. We're the ones paying for it.
And what still really annoys is the suspicion that Dave Evans could have written a good, very worthwhile - even seminal - book. So maybe we should blame his PhD supervisor. No, blame Dave. It's his name on the cover.

I am so glad that I did not take on board some of the negative comments made about this book currently available on the Amazon website before eventually purchasing it. As it turns out these proved to be widely inaccurate with the reviewers slightly missing the point about what 'The History of British Magic After Aleister Crowley' is really attempting to do.

Dave Evans has approached this very diverse subject with a thoroughly investigative mind. Because of this; this could have turned out to have been a very dry account of the history of 20th century magic - with research having been drawn from all of the usual common sources for its content. Instead this is more a social commentary of the people, writers and major characters involved into which the author successfully infuses his own unique perspective as a magician. He draws his material from a wide range of sources and through personal connections that most other writers simply do not have.

I found the section on Chaos Magic to be perhaps the most illuminating explanation of this tricky aspect of modern occultism I have read so far. For those 'traditionalists' who prefer their magick full of pomp and ceremony this will not be a comfortable read. Nevertheless it is an important branch of Thelema and needs the sort of unbiased investigation that the author has given it.

This is a big book in all regards but a couple of chapters into it and I was completely hooked. Taken overall this turned out to be a darned good purchase and thoroughly engaging read! There is no other book on the market today that covers so much ground in such an informative and fascinating way. I thoroughly recommend it to all occultists of all persuasions as an important addition to their libraries. For those buyers looking for a more concise and introductory guide to the legacy that Crowley left us I also recommend by the same author 'Aleister Crowley and the 20th Century Synthesis of Magick' Aleister Crowley and the 20th Century Synthesis of Magick: Strange Distant Gods That are Not Dead Today