The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies by Simon Webb

​This book doesn’t come out until January 2022, though it appears perfectly themed for nonfiction October pick. That’s what this advanced copy was for me, anyway, so now I’m the first person to rate and review it. Even had to create a listing for it on GR.
   So, let’s talk about the book…first off, it’s really good. The publisher tends to specialize in military themes, but lately they’ve been going off the beaten path and veering in all sorts of (to me) much more interesting and entertaining directions. Like this book. To be fair, the tone of it isn’t quite the jocularly charming one of their traditional diversions, but it’s nowhere near pedantic. What you get is a well-informed, well-presented and, despite the numerous digressions all of which with a purpose, pleasingly concise book that offers exactly what the title promises.
    Since proverbially there’s nothing new under the sun, it shouldn’t surprise you to find out that the modern ideas we have of wizards, witches and fairies are actually based on centuries of historical past (some factual, some invented) and have profound and elaborate sociocultural bases. It is these winding paths that the author so expertly travels in this book from prehistoric constructs to much more recent ideas.
    Pointy hats (or horned helmets) and magic wands will be explained, fairies will be linked to long-gone ancestorial branch, witches will be culturally contextualized. And, because of the excellently meandering ways of this book, it’ll take you from the beginning of civilization to present day and span an impressive variety of subjects, continents, eras, etc. A most striking accomplishment for such a slender tome, this book will not only educate and entertain, it’ll actually give you an entire new and informed framework for thinking about the cultural history of things we find ubiquitous in modern culture, be it fantasy tales or October window decorations and customs. Excellent read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.