Ronald Hutton modestly calls this "an exploratory and tentative" history of modern pagan witchcraft, but "The Triumph of the Moon" may well stand the test of time as the definitive work on the subject. Hutton exhaustively--but never exhaustingly--parades a colorful cast of characters before the reader, profiling British occultists from the Victorian and Edwardian eras to the present. He focuses on the development of Wicca, arguing that practitioners of witchcraft were not bizarre, fringe eccentrics, but the more visible (and audible) vocalizers of larger issues of concern in the nineteenth century.

The book closes with the author's fascinating personal view of modern witchcraft. Hutton claims that witchcraft is appealing because it celebrates the divinity within human beings, embraces mystery, and is ritually creative and eclectic.

Hutton's exploration of witchcraft from the nineteenth century to the present sheds light on the historic emergence of neo-pagan spirituality, and dispels many pervasive myths about its practitioners. A perfect gift for your favorite witch--or for your parents when you tell them you've joined a coven...