Overview

"""If we would know man in all his subtleties, we must deviate into the world of miracles and sorcery . . . ""To know the things that are not, and cannot be, but have been imagined and believed, is the most curious chapter in the annals of man. To observe the actual results of these imaginary phenomena, and the crimes and cruelties they have caused us to commit, is one of the most instructive studies in which we can possibly be engaged!"" So wrote William Godwin in 1834, in bringing together an amazing collection of historical accounts and philosophical perspectives on ""the acts of sorcery and witchcraft which have existed in human society."" Ranging from Simon Magus and the Sorceror Elymas to Tullus Hostilius and Sertorius, and from the Greece of Empedocles to the Dark Ages of Europe, Lives of the Necromancers gives an even-handed account of the place of magic in the kingdoms and empires of the past."

Full Product Details

9781606640296

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

William Godwin (1756 - 1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism. Godwin is most famous for two books that he published within the space of a year: An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, an attack on political institutions and Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams, which attacks aristocratic privilege, but also is the first mystery novel. Based on the success of both, Godwin featured prominently in the radical circles of London in the 1790s. He wrote prolifically in the genres of novels, history and demography throughout his lifetime. In the conservative reaction to British radicalism, Godwin was attacked, in part because of his marriage to the pioneering feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft in 1797 and his candid biography of her after her death from childbirth. Their daughter, later known as Mary Shelley, would go on to write Frankenstein and marry the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. With his second wife, Mary Jane Clairmont, Godwin set up The Juvenile Library, allowing the family to write their own works for children (sometimes using noms de plume) and translate and publish many other books, some of enduring significance. Godwin has had considerable influence on British literature and literary culture.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available