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Amazon.co.uk Review
There was only one man to be honoured by Queen Elizabeth I with the title "my philosopher", but even this exalted title does not do justice to Dr John Dee (1527-1608), one of the Elizabethan era's most brilliant and colourful characters, whose long and eventful life is chronicled in Benjamin Woolley's biography The Queen's Conjuror: The Science and Magi c of Dr Dee. Dee's long career as scholar, scientist, magician and political adviser spanned one of the most turbulent periods of English history, from the death of Henry VIII and England's split with Rome, to the decadent court of James I. Working for the young, embattled Elizabeth, Dee became "an intelligencer", "a seeker of hidden knowledge, philosophical and scientific, as well as political", helping his sovereign to "become an adept at the magical practice of monarchy", as he advised on issues as diverse as foreign policy, internal security, calendrical reformation, overseas exploration, and "spiritual communication".
Woolley is particularly fascinated by Dee's immersion in magic and the occult and his claims that he could "summon the divine secrets of the universe from angels and archangels". It was this involvement in the occult that was to ultimately lead to Dee's fall from grace. The majority of the book deals with Dee's involvement with the sinister Edward Kelley, whose crystal gazing and communications with angels were to lead Dee into virtual exile in central Europe, before his return home in 1589 "after six years, thousands of miles, some triumphs, several disasters, a few accolades and numerous humiliations". Wooley's focus of the increasingly twisted relationship between Dee and Kelley's runs the risk of sidelining Dee's many other achievements, but his description of their magical "actions" is convincing and spooky, and captures Dee's fatal inability to resist his involvement in what he called the "strange participation" between the living and the dead. --Jerry Brotton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
‘Fresh and original…Woolley thinks and writes beautifully. This is a distinguished and rather brilliant book – it’s also a rattling good story.’ Lisa Jardine
‘A fascinating, brilliant account of the Renaissance world picture…’ Kathryn Hughes, New Statesman
‘Woolley handsomely captures a society torn between rationality and romance, cynicism and hero worship.’ New Scientist
‘An informative and enlightening book. It offers concise and lucid explanations of Dee’s more abstruse and arcane theories. And it is immensely enjoyable, its narrative exciting and inexorable. I have not read as stimulating a study of the Elizabethan period since Charles Nicholl’s book on Marlowe, “The Reckoning”.’ Thomas Wright, Daily Telegraph
Praise for ‘The Herbalist’:
‘The research is superb – rich, detailed, and original – and the lives Benjamin Woolley describes are as passionate as the great events of the English Civil War around which they orbit.’ Adam Nicolson
'He charts the course of the angelic discourses in spellbinding detail and with admirable objectivity… Crammed with telling detail…' Ann Geneva, Financial Times
'Unexpectedly poignant' J P D Cooper, TLS
'An evocative portrait of the Tudor age, and Dee…. casts a spell on the reader'.Sebastian Shakespeare
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It would be very difficult to write a dull biography of John Dee. He was perhaps the archetypal Renaissance man; astronomer, astrologer, explorer and mathematician, he was a friend of Elizabeth I but died in poverty, reviled for his spiritualism.
Based on Dee's private diaries, Woolley's biography is filled with fascinating detail, not only of his experiments, but of Elizabethan court life and society. Thorough without being tedious, this is always eminently readable. And - hurrah! - it has proper citations, an extensive bibliography and a decent index, thus proving once and for all that this kind of slightly populist history does not have to abandon all proper academic convention.
If I have one misgiving, it's that the central, apparently driving force for much of Dee's life, his relationship with Edward Kelly, is under-analysed. Certainly, the facts about Kelly are few enough; but aside from a single, speculative mention of some passing evidence for Kelly's being an apostate priest, no consideration is given to his origins. More importantly, there is little comment on the true nature of the spiritual 'actions' undertaken by the two men. Did Kelly genuinely believe in his visions? And what was his hold on Dee, that he could pursuade him to abandon his morals so far as to exchange wives?
This aside, the book is excellent. In the twenty-first century, we have forgotten that the separation between science and magic is a very recent thing. Woolley takes us straight into the mind of a man for whom they were identical. Recommended.
Based on Dee's private diaries, Woolley's biography is filled with fascinating detail, not only of his experiments, but of Elizabethan court life and society. Thorough without being tedious, this is always eminently readable. And - hurrah! - it has proper citations, an extensive bibliography and a decent index, thus proving once and for all that this kind of slightly populist history does not have to abandon all proper academic convention.
If I have one misgiving, it's that the central, apparently driving force for much of Dee's life, his relationship with Edward Kelly, is under-analysed. Certainly, the facts about Kelly are few enough; but aside from a single, speculative mention of some passing evidence for Kelly's being an apostate priest, no consideration is given to his origins. More importantly, there is little comment on the true nature of the spiritual 'actions' undertaken by the two men. Did Kelly genuinely believe in his visions? And what was his hold on Dee, that he could pursuade him to abandon his morals so far as to exchange wives?
This aside, the book is excellent. In the twenty-first century, we have forgotten that the separation between science and magic is a very recent thing. Woolley takes us straight into the mind of a man for whom they were identical. Recommended.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I agree with one of the other reviewers in that the book seems to aim at a populist audience but then veers towards being an academic book. I do not think the book analyses the relationship between Dee and Keeley enough and even more importantly is the way it fails to deal properly with the "actions" (meaning sessions summoning spirits). It is certainly a detailed catalogue of the sessions themselves but we never are informed whether Dee saw any spirits himself of did he rely on Kelley totally. Secondly, did Kelley see the spirits or was he making it up? There is no discussion of this at all and I think the book would have benefitted greatly from such a discussion.
On the plus side, the parts of the book dealing with the religious and political situation which form the background to the story of Dr Dee are very interesting as is the end of the book where more analysis is attempted.
I'd not avoid this book because it is a biography of a very unique Elizabethan figure and is well written in many places. However be warned that the middle section largely reads like a diary account of Dee's sessions with no reflection of what he felt or even speculation about this.
On the plus side, the parts of the book dealing with the religious and political situation which form the background to the story of Dr Dee are very interesting as is the end of the book where more analysis is attempted.
I'd not avoid this book because it is a biography of a very unique Elizabethan figure and is well written in many places. However be warned that the middle section largely reads like a diary account of Dee's sessions with no reflection of what he felt or even speculation about this.
Format:Paperback
On page 38 of this book there is a quote by the 17th century historian John Aubrey: "In those dark times, astrologer, mathematician and conjuror were accounted the same things". This encapsulates the contradictory nature of Doctor John Dee very well. He demonstrates amply the contradictions of the Elizabethan era, the boundary between Medieval magic and enlightenment science and rationality. The book goes into what was for me rather excessive detail on the seances (or "actions") in which Dee took part, usually through the medium of the sinister Edward Kelley. But there were many interesting passages about Dee's interest in the latest explorations of America, astronomy and calendar reform, which show that he was a polymath of considerable achievements. He wrote a paper on calendar reform for Elizabeth's government after Pope Gregory's promulgation of the revised calendar in Catholic countries in 1582; but was also consulted by Robert Dudley on the most auspicious day for Elizabeth's coronation in 1558, based more on astrology than practical scheduling issues.
Dee led a colourful life, being married three or four times and having a lot of children (the book seems a litle inconsistent in places over the names of his wives and number of children), reverted from oppressed Protestant to Catholic oppressor under Queen Mary and may have been employed by Walsingham as part of his network of intelligencers. He also made a long journey across central and eatsren Europe in the 1580s after England became too hot for him and returned to find that the attitude towards alchemy and mysticism was beginning to change (though it is worth remembering that even the great Isaac Newton made experiments in alchemy later).
In sum, a lot of fascinating stuff about the Elizabethan era, but the detail in the lengthy scenes involving spirits, etc. became boring for me after a while.
Dee led a colourful life, being married three or four times and having a lot of children (the book seems a litle inconsistent in places over the names of his wives and number of children), reverted from oppressed Protestant to Catholic oppressor under Queen Mary and may have been employed by Walsingham as part of his network of intelligencers. He also made a long journey across central and eatsren Europe in the 1580s after England became too hot for him and returned to find that the attitude towards alchemy and mysticism was beginning to change (though it is worth remembering that even the great Isaac Newton made experiments in alchemy later).
In sum, a lot of fascinating stuff about the Elizabethan era, but the detail in the lengthy scenes involving spirits, etc. became boring for me after a while.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fascinating
An excellent insight into the 16th century, and a very interesting man. Very easy to read, and highly recommended for anyone who enjoys historical factual books.
Published 9 months ago by Wynter
Great indroduction to John Dee and Edward Kelley...
This book is a great example of why i enjoy reading history so much. Its exciting and easy to read and the author has written in a narrarative form which makes this complex subject... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Baz
A boring conjuror?
Benjamin Woolley have written a non-sensationalist, almost boring, biography of John Dee, one of the more spectacular characters of British and European history. Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2008 by Ashtar Command
Dissapointing
I was dissapointed in this work. An enormous amount of the middle of the book seems like an uncritical transcription from Dee's diary describing the skrying sessions and what Dee... Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2008 by J. Harvey
A good place to start when learning about enochian magick
If you are someone who is interested in Enochian Magick, this can be a great place to start. The books itself does not go into much detail about the scrying sessions with Dee and... Read more
Published on 23 July 2005
great accout
this is only just a snapshot into the life and inner workings of one of great forefathers of modern day occultism. Read more
Published on 21 Mar 2003 by wicce_k
Tall tales
On this evidence, what might you make of "Dr" John Dee, Scientist, Philosopher, Astronomer, Astrologer, Librarian, Religious dilitante, and apparent correspondent with angels? Read more
Published on 27 Aug 2002 by Andy Millward
A very readable and thought-provoking book
John Dee comes across in this very readable book as something of a fool. Which in my opinion is unlikely to be the case because he was extremely learned and one of the greatest... Read more
Published on 11 April 2001 by bobobob5
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