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Tony Banks: Man of Spells – The Magician of Genesis
Following his authoritative, critically acclaimed Kingmaker books on Genesis, Mario Giammetti recounts the story of Tony Banks' life and music in Tony Banks: Man of Spells - The Magician of Genesis.
The book comprehensively covers Banks’ overlooked solo career in addition to his work with Genesis. Giammetti draws from a number of interviews with Banks, alongside interviews with other key personalities in the musician’s circle.
At over 250 pages, and illustrated with more than 100 images, including many rare and previously unpublished photographs, Man of Spells is a exhaustive portrait of a musician who remains an enigma to many people despite his enormous success and widespread influence.
Gregory Spawton, co-owner of Kingmaker Publishing and co-founder of Big Big Train, comments, “While there have been various books written by or about all the other major players in Genesis, there has until now never been one focused exclusively on Tony Banks. We felt it was important to shine a brighter light on his life and career.”
The book comprehensively covers Banks’ overlooked solo career in addition to his work with Genesis. Giammetti draws from a number of interviews with Banks, alongside interviews with other key personalities in the musician’s circle.
At over 250 pages, and illustrated with more than 100 images, including many rare and previously unpublished photographs, Man of Spells is a exhaustive portrait of a musician who remains an enigma to many people despite his enormous success and widespread influence.
Gregory Spawton, co-owner of Kingmaker Publishing and co-founder of Big Big Train, comments, “While there have been various books written by or about all the other major players in Genesis, there has until now never been one focused exclusively on Tony Banks. We felt it was important to shine a brighter light on his life and career.”
262 pages, Paperback
Published February 19, 2026
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 8, 2026
Overall, a fantastic book on the man, the legend...Mr. Tony Banks.
That being said, there were some glaring errors that I felt should have been corrected before publication. One I can recall is the title of the American release of the film Lorca and the Outlaws being stated as "Starfish". It's called Starship. Not a huge detail but anyone reading the book curious to know this would be mislead.
Another error more interesting I suppose is the statement that one of the singles for "This Is Love", the release with the extended versions of "This Is Love" and "Charm", didn't contain an extended version of either track. This is half correct. Charm was incorrectly listed as being extended but "This Is Love" did in fact have a slightly extended version. It's not a huge difference between the album version but it is slightly longer.
One more thing...I felt the last two sections of the book which were written by two big fans of Tony's were unnecessary. They seriously dragged and were a bit technical and just unnecessary.
That being said, there were some glaring errors that I felt should have been corrected before publication. One I can recall is the title of the American release of the film Lorca and the Outlaws being stated as "Starfish". It's called Starship. Not a huge detail but anyone reading the book curious to know this would be mislead.
Another error more interesting I suppose is the statement that one of the singles for "This Is Love", the release with the extended versions of "This Is Love" and "Charm", didn't contain an extended version of either track. This is half correct. Charm was incorrectly listed as being extended but "This Is Love" did in fact have a slightly extended version. It's not a huge difference between the album version but it is slightly longer.
One more thing...I felt the last two sections of the book which were written by two big fans of Tony's were unnecessary. They seriously dragged and were a bit technical and just unnecessary.
Displaying 1 of 1 review