The Magical History of Britain

by Martin Wall

In this profoundly personal journey through British history, Martin Wall traces the influence of Magic and Myth from the earliest times to the present day. These abiding myths have endured since before the time of the Druids, reaching their apotheosis in the Arthurian tales and the Glastonbury legends, stories which retain their dynamism and imaginative power. These mythic templates, constantly reinvented, provided a legitimating mission for the British Empire, which mediated them to a worldwide audience. Britain's spiritual inheritance is shot through with magic. But this book takes in more obscure mysteries, such as "Who put Bella in the Wych-Elm?," a localized "tribe of witches,"  and a host of extraordinary characters like Doctor John Dee, William Blake, and the notorious Aleister Crowley. In this fascinating account of the occult origins of British culture, the author depicts this island story as an outworking of magical destiny - a challenge to us to create our own imaginative system.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2021

About the author

Inherited a strong interest in history legends and mythology, and became precocious in this field, reading and "imagineering" from an early age. In later life I returned to West Mercia, and rediscovered this passion for "land magic", folk tales, and elemental stories. Gradually, out of felt need to preserve the ancient inheritance against the ravages of modern industrial/consumerist culture, I experimented with blending ancient folk tales with my own creations. I am a volunteer guide for several organizations, including the Staffordshire Hoard exhibition. I lecture to local groups on these themes.

Reviews

[Trudi Hauxwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, a disappointing read. The first half of the book is little more than a re-cap of British history and legend from the Neo-lithic period to the first Viking raids. Most of the names and events contained in it would be known to the average English or Welsh school student.

It's not until the story reaches the Elizabethan period that a discussion of the role of magic in the history of Britain actually comes to the forefront of the narrative. I applaud the author's inclusion of Alred Watkins early on. It's about time his reputation was wrested back from the new age types. However, the author rather put me off with the inclusion of Margaret Murray's crackpot theories about the Bella in the Wych Elm and Pitchfork Murder cases. Not only that, but the author got the location of the Pitchfork Murder case wrong, by repeating the age old error that it was committed near the Rollright Stones, when in fact the murder took place at Lower Quinton, near the Iron Age hill fort of Meon Hill. I grew up in the area and Meon Hill has a sinister reputation amongst the locals, which would have been worth exploring in this book, had the author got his facts right. But not even the legends surrounding the Rollright Stones, of a witch who saves southern England from an invading army, get a mention in the text, so I suppose I'm expecting too much.

I have a Masters degree in Archaeology, and remember well arguing with my tutors that folklore and the roles of magic and mysticism in the development of the English landscape should be taken more seriously. I was very much looking forward to reading this book, but sadly, most of the content was already known to me, not that much of it was about magic, or even folklore, and the factual errors and glaring omissions spoiled it further.

[Richard Clay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those seeking a coolly rationalistic assessment of how religious and magical traditions may have persisted from pre-Roman times are advised to look the other way.

Those seeking a warm, enthusiastic and entertaining celebration of the possibility of such persistence - and a statement of faith in such persistence - should waste no time in pulling up a bench at Mr Wall's literary fireside and getting a few hornsful of this fine druidic mead down your necks.

By the end, you'll have to admit that it's certainly possible something of the druids' teachings got into the primitive Celtic Church, thence passed into all manner of native folklore and occult practice and continues to exert a positive influence to this day. Whether you think this actually happened is, of course, up to you.

The lively cast of characters include John Dee and his associate Kelly, Aleistair Crowley and even the Inklings get a look in towards the end.

Finishing on a touching and personal note, the book will delight plenty of wiccans, mystics and occultists.

[S.C. Skillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a rewarding experience to read in that it filled in for me the details of a totally obscure period of Britain's history including the so-called Dark Ages, and the recurrent struggles over many generations between Christians and Pagans. The author states that he was inspired to write this book by the discovery of the Staffordshire Horde. But I did find myself wishing the author had not chosen to pack so much information in, often giving a blow-by-blow account of events in long, weighty paragraphs, and filling in the entire life history of every character he featured.

Nevertheless it was still a fascinating book and of one thing we can be sure - through all the centuries on this Island, the Celts, the Romans, the Britons, the Danes, the Christians, the Anglo Saxons and the Normans have all been every bit as bad as each other, when it comes to wholesale slaughter and sadistic punishments. The author draws through his narrative a thread of myth and magic, and his treatment of the Arthurian mythology is particularly interesting - a mythology that I believe puts down very deep roots in our national psyche. I know I have long loved the stories of Arthur and Guinevere, and the knights of the round table, along with the enchantress Nimue and the wizard Merlin.

Towards the end of this challenging read, including a detailed account of the life and work of Aleister Crowley, it was a positive relief to come through to the conclusion of Martin Walls's narrative and to read his account of the Inklings meeting in Oxford - bringing us back to Tolkien and CS Lewis and Owen Barfield.

The book concludes with some astute and discerning remarks about the present state of Britain in regard to its history, its national psyche and its spiritual and magical mythologies.

[Gemma Venn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this but my god, it was tedious. It was a dictionary-seekers paradise! The author going to great lengths to use words 4x the size just to make his academic point! Now, I am quite a wordsmith but even I had the dictionary handy!

And therein lies the massive failure of the book ... it's too heavy! If I wanted jargon I would read an academic paper in the subject! This book aimed at the masses will probably not have sold as well as it could have if the author and editor and focused more on the content than the pomposity of language used to reinforce their 'braininess'!

The history and opinions (that I read) would have been far more enjoyable and actually MORE informative if it was written with more passion and less academia ... if it was written much more like Francis Pryor (famed academic historian of early british history) who infuses his books with so much knowledge and passion that he doesn't need to hide behind unnecessarily big words, I would have gobbled this book up merrily!

Needless to say, I didn't make the 100th page before reluctantly closing it & returning it (sadly) to the library, with a view to steer clear of any more of Mr Wall's works ... regardless of how enticing the subject matter may be!

Very disappointing because it's probably got some good points and correlations hidden in its 300+ pages :-(

[Hugh Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is no dry summary of evidence based history, rather Wall actually weaves a kind of tale around the various people, events and timelines. This is very much his interpretation of how magic has existed throughout Britain's various eras but for context we do have some deep dives into actual Brittonic and Anglo Saxon history.

My only gripes are that a few of the events he mentions are incorrect, in particular some of the details regarding the Charles Walton and Bella In the Wych Elm murders.

A good read that goes some way to putting the magic back into the history of magic.

[Colin Myles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read. Magical journey through history and back to the present.

[Rene Nel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but hard going in places.

[Charlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, actually nice to read a book that goes right back to BC times. However, it's very heavily reliant on the 7th century for most of the content. The only let down was the repetition throughout about 4 chapters of this. Otherwise very interesting!

[Arthur Cowslip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mmm, a difficult one. I've given it three stars as it wasn't awful, but it was a bit of a slog to get through and I'm still not convinced there is any overall insight or point to the whole thing. On occasion it is quite diverting, but I can't help wishing the author had put more of his own thoughts and theories into it. The prologue and epilogue hint at some kind of unified belief in a magical world, but the body of the book doesn't really live up to this. In the main it's a history book from ancient Britain to the modern world, which cherry picks individual people and events (druids, Arthur, Crowley, etc) without really tying them together very cohesively. I was waiting for him to reveal the key to it all in the last chapter.

But maybe I was expecting too much. And maybe I read it too fast or missed the subtleties. I have a notion to read it again to be honest.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book but disappointing