The Romance of Sorcery [Hardcover]

Sax Rohmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1973

A good-humoured appreciation of the uses and abuses of magic, sorcery, and its spiritualist descendants. This is a guide to the realm of magic, with a long history from the birth of sorcery in Ancient Egypt to the infamous witch-trials in Scotland, including a comprehensive index from alchemy to zodiac. There is no better general introduction to magic, sorcery and the paranormal.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The late Sax Rohmer was the author of the popular Fu Manchu books, many of which were made into films.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Gale Group (January 1, 1973)
• ISBN-10: 0810343568
• ISBN-13: 978-0810343566
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,381,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great read, but your wallet might disagree, December 12, 2005

By 

Stefan Isaksson "www.stefanisaksson.se" (Malmoe, Sweden) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Guide to Magic, Sorcery and the Paranormal (Hardcover)

Sax Rohmer is best known as the author of the Fu Manchu books, many of which have been made into films. However, he was also a historian of mysticism and the occult, and A Guide to Magic, Sorcery, and the Paranormal, which was first published almost 100 years ago, was the only non-fiction book Rohmer ever wrote. Through this work he wanted to tell the layman about his interest, and as a result of this he never digs very deep into his subjects, but throughout the book writes enough to make the reader interested and inspired to make his or her own research.

So what, then, is it that Rohmer writes about? Well, as the title says, magic, sorcery, and the paranormal, seen through a historical perspective, focusing on some of the most prominent characters ever to have explored the occult. Rohmer mentions, among other individuals, Michel de Notre Dame (also known as Nostradamus), Dr. John Dee, count Cagliostro, and founder of theosophy Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. It's very obvious that the book is indeed written to the layman, since Rohmer repeatedly assures his reader that he's not going to dig too deep into his subject matter, and except for a few instances he never offers any thorough description of rituals and methods.

There's not a complete lack of scepticism, but on the other hand, it's not very apparent, but then again, A Guide to Magic, Sorcery, and the Paranormal never claims to be a book by a skeptic for a skeptic. It's, just like the back of it says, an introduction to magic, sorcery, and the paranormal, but it's by far not the best introduction out there. There are tons of newer, better, and especially cheaper books available these days, but it was definitely worth reading and I truly did appreciate it.

But it's not a cheap experience, though. The price is quite high, and many people might find it a bit too much for a book that really doesn't have anything extraordinary to say. However, any serious collector of books about the occult should grab it immediately, and I'm very proud to have it in my bookshelf.