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Dave Evans
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The History of British Magic After Crowley: Kenneth Grant, Amado Crowley, Chaos Magic, Satanism, Lovecraft, the Left Hand Path, Blasphemy and Magical Morality Paperback – 1 April 2007

by Dave Evans (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars 9 ratings
Both a professional academic researcher and practising magician, Dr Dave Evans delves deeply into modern British history to present a serious, but accessible and fascinating work, based on his recent and unique PhD, on developments in British magic after Aleister Crowley died. Not just the result of extensive book-research, this project involved attending rituals and having meetings with some quite remarkable men and women, who are examined and given a voice in these pages, some of them for the first time. Topics covered include Aleister Crowley and Thelema, How many magicians there actually are in Britain, The claims of Amado Crowley to be Aleister's son, the work of Austin Osman Spare, Kenneth Grant and the Typhonian OTO, Blasphemy, Chaos Magick, Gerald Gardner, Ramsey Dukes, Alex Sanders, HP Lovecraft, Satanism, Cursing, The Left-Hand Path, creating the Journal for the Academic Study of Magic, plus the work of Ronald Hutton, Dennis Wheatley, Dion Fortune, HP Blavatsky and others, all meshed into a broader philosophical, cognitive-psychological and moral-history framework of the broader Twentieth Century. Also includes how Academia deals with studying 'the Weird', and how Academia deals with having Magicians in their ranks in the first place (aka 'Reflexivity'), plus a host of tangential issues including Satan in advertising, Drugs, the Millennium Bug and 'End-Times Fever', Andrew Chumbley, Sex Magick, Inversion and Carnival, Witchcraft, neoPaganism and Wicca, Harry Potter, Breaking Taboos, Sigmund Freud, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the madness of Montague Summers, Black and White magic, Censorship, how Tolkien and CS Lewis made magical belief the majority view in Britain, Genesis P Orridge, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Thatcherite Politics and Magic, Oscar Wilde and homosexual moral panics, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Satanic Ritual Abuse, Bela Lugosi, messages decoded from a dead squid and the cabbalistic importance of a cat called Tibbles. Not just a book about the history of magic, this research places magicians and their work into the broader society that we all live in, and shows how that magic has always been a part of our culture.
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  1. Print length
    440 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Hidden Publishing
  4. Publication date
    1 April 2007
  5. Dimensions
    15.2 x 2.27 x 22.9 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    0955523702
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0955523700
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Product description

Review

"provocative thought provoking ... certainly quite different to any previous history you might have read" -- Mogg Morgan, Mandrake Speaks Newsletter number 201, Summer 2007

Dave Evans has managed to write a `sensible' book on a not-sensible subject
-- Alaistair Livingstone, Greengalloway Blog, Spring 2007

exhibits high standards of research...contains new and previously unpublished material... a work of reference for generations to come. -- Peter J Carroll, Arcanorium College internal newsletter, Summer 2007

From the Author

Thankyou

Dr Dave Evans

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hidden Publishing
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 1 April 2007
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 440 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0955523702
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0955523700
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 643 g
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.2 x 2.27 x 22.9 cm
  • Best Sellers Rank: 2,334,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • Customer reviews:
    3.6 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

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Dave Evans

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Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
9 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Noodles..
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 January 2022
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Great book. Arrived quicker than expected. Thanks tombunting books.
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  • tunzobux
    4.0 out of 5 stars all the stuff you WANTED to know...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 April 2009
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Evan's 'History..' is full of all the information that somehow seems to have been 'missed' by authors presenting the 'occult history' 101 card.
    Evan's presents his work clearly, a fact worth mentioning as his 'research' materials are disparate to say the least.
    thoroughly enjoyable.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • N Foster
    2.0 out of 5 stars If a little knowledge. . .
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 November 2007
    Format: Paperback
    . . .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.
    37 people found this helpful
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  • A Reader
    1.0 out of 5 stars The History of... a PhD dissertation with a foot in the Chaos camp!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 July 2010
    Format: Paperback
    No doubt he got good marks from the teacher for this one. As a book however its not something I would want to subject myself to reading again... ever! Life is just too short to listen to the ramblings of a biased academic whose sources are unsubstantiated and in some cases just plain wrong. Its a shame that this book is quoted from so often.

    In the case of Amado Crowley- an Occult Master that very little is known about- the kind of tedious information Evans comes up with is really clutching at straws. I can just imagine him rummaging through the rubbish bins of people that might have known Amado Crowley for some scrap of evidence against him. I came away feeling I hadn't learned anything of value.

    There are better sources of information on all of the people discussed- Authors who have written from experience rather than hear-say. Unfortunately putting so many famous names in your title is a cheap trick that boosts popularity.

    This is a dissertation best left alone!
    9 people found this helpful
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  • cyberdoog
    5.0 out of 5 stars A unique, erudite, and important book!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 November 2007
    Format: Paperback
    Having been a student and practitioner of the Occult for the past 25years, with a special interest in both Thelemic and Chaos Magick, I found this book by Dave Evans an exciting overview of its' development since the death of Crowley. The way the author weaves through such diverse subject matter is to be applauded. I particularly enjoyed his elucidation of the so-called "Left-Hand Path" material, including Satanism, Lovecraft, and Kaos. It takes a brave person to tackle the question of Morality in this area, and he does so in a direct manner, exposing the spiritual fascism which can underly much of what goes on in the name of servants of the Light.
    Being a long-term fan of Kenneth Grant and the Cults of the Shadow, I was particularly impressed by the authors' appraisal of him and his continuation of the 93 Current. It was truly refreshing to read such a respectful attitude, and it puts Grant firmly in the lime(mauve?)light of British occultism.
    A truly marvellous achievement, and on top of that, the Bibliography, and extensive internet references/ sources cited, are a gold mine in themselves. A job well done!
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • B. Lord
    4.0 out of 5 stars A good book, possibly the only one of its kind
    Reviewed in the United States on 16 October 2008
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Evans makes a valiant attempt at taking an academic and historical look at the modern history of the occult in england. About half of the book is centered around an examination of morality and magick. Evans debunks the idea that magicians (even followers of the so-called "left hand path") are in some way evil or malicious. The rest of the book is divided into a review of the lives of Amado Crowley and Kenneth Grant (along with some debunking of the stories these men have created around themselves) and a brief look at chaos magick. I really enjoyed this book, but it does have its weaknesses. For example, I was disappointed at times with Evans citation of wikipedia as a source of information, and his tendency to cite other unacademic sources as fact when they supported his conclusions. I recommend the book especially for people with a passing interest in the beliefs and (to a lesser extent)the practices of the modern occultist.
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  • Mithras "Unconquerable Sun" Sol Invictus
    2.0 out of 5 stars A Disappointment
    Reviewed in the United States on 13 May 2010
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I was really disappointed when I got this book. I was looking forward to reading about Kenneth Grant, the Typhonian Current, and other developments after Crowley:
    what I got was a very dry, boring read on topics like ethics and anthropology... and less than 40 pages on Magick after Crowley. I would not recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an informative read...it's a waste of money.
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