Book review: The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft  By Rosemary Ellen Guiley

This book is great simply for the breadth of information it includes.  It has entries on everything from ancient legends of Witchcraft and folk magic to modern day entities like Laurie Cabot and even the Witches' League itself.  On all the topics I read into, the information seemed to be accurate and well documented, with many illustrations and photos to enhance the text. Though some of the historical information, especially about the Burning Times and inquisition, was inaccurate in light of new information that has been surfacing on this period in history, the newer information is great and very well written.

Being an encyclopedia, this is not a book you would sit down and read, but it is interesting if you thumb through it and read the various articles and entries; I especially liked some of the mythology and folk magic, though unless you have a specific historical question the encyclopedic format doesn't lend itself to a good overview of historical events or timelines.  The purpose of this book seems to primarily be research and, for lack of a better term, Witchcraft trivia.  It doesn't have any magical information on spells or ritual, so it's not a great book to learn about the religious or spiritual aspects of Witchcraft, and it only has a basic overview of things like the Sabbats and holidays, so it really isn't a good magical reference.

     I would recommend this book strongly to anyone who is interested in an encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Witches past and present, and for anyone who collects books on Witchcraft or the occult this is a must. As I said, the amount of information is great, well written, and very interesting- Every time I picked the book up while reviewing it, I found some new tidbit of information that fascinated me. However, if you're looking for a book for ritual help, magical information, a beginners book on modern Witchcraft or other such information, this book won't help you much at all.