Lives of the Necromancers by William Godwin, Biography & Autobiography, Historical, Body, Mind & Spirit, Magic Studies, Occultism

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, gives an even-handed account of the place of magic in the kingdoms and empires of the past.