From the wise and mysterious soothsayer with his long grey beard to the deathless necromancer practicing his dark magics in a forgotten dungeon, wizards have captured our imaginations since the earliest days of human storytelling, presenting us with some of our greatest heroes and villains. This book collects the tales of the most interesting, popular, and important spell-casters, including such legendary figures as Merlin, Simon Magus, Zhang Guo Lao, Nicolas Flamel, Dr John Dee, and Johann Georg Faust, and examines their place in history and legend. Written in modern language, each tale captures the drama, the tragedy, and the wonderment that has ensured that these stories have survived the passing centuries.

David A McIntee has written many tie-in novels in such franchises as Dr Who, Star Trek, Final Destination and Space 1999. He has also written comics adapting the work of Ray Harryhausen, William Shatner and John Saul. He has been a regular features contributor to many genre media magazines, and has written academic studies about the Aliens and Predator series, Blakes 7, and others. He has also run re-enactment demos of Ancient Egyptian events.

Lesley McIntee graduated from the University of Manchester in 2011 with an MPhil on the figure of the Magus and the creative artist in German Romanticism. She has a lifelong interest in history of the occult, alchemy, myth and folklore and is currently writing a study of the historical Brothers Grimm, NBC/Universal's Grimm, and popular culture. When not writing, she is Chair of one of the UK's long-running scifi cons, Redemption, organises womens' well-being events, is a Belly and Burlesque dancer, and somehow finds time for a day job in Retail. The housework is starting to back up, though - applications from familiar spirits or apprentices with own broom welcome. Lesley lives in Yorkshire with David and the four cats.