Charles Christian is an English lawyer and a Reuters correspondent-turned-writer, editor, award-winning tech journalist, and sometime werewolf hunter. Charles was born a chime-child with a caul and grew up in a haunted medieval house by the harbor in the Yorkshire seaside town of Scarborough. According to folklore, a caul-shrouded chime-child can’t drown at sea but can see and talk to faerie folk and also has protection against spells cast by malevolent witches and sorcerers. His father’s side of the family was related to Fletcher Christian, the leader of the infamous 18th-century mutiny on HMS Bounty, while his mother’s side was descended from Anne Hunnam (or Marchant) the “Witch of Scarborough,” who was acquitted of casting a fatal spell on a child in 1652. And “yes,” an English newspaper once really did commission Charles to take part in a werewolf hunt on the night of a full moon. Spoiler alert: he didn’t find one. He lives in Waveney Valley, England.
"""★ Starred Review. ... a true compendium of who's who in the world of witchcraft throughout Western civilization. ... Each chapter defines an era of how magic and witches were perceived, defined, accepted, or persecuted in Europe and North America. The book provides numerous known details about the lives of practitioners of magic, witches, and alchemists, from the Middle Ages to the age of TikTok. ... Extremely thorough and engagingly written, this title is an excellent historical reference for readers and students of the occult and witchcraft."" - Library Journal ""... And as far as operating as a ""biographical dictionary"" of magicians, ""The Witches Almanac"" does a fantastic job. I was hard pressed to think of any practitioners that may have been missed. Also, rest assured, ""The Witches Almanac"" has an excellent index, just in case you want to find a specific person. If you're looking for a rough history of magic that has the main focus on the practitioners that shaped it, ""The Witches Almanac"" by Charles Christian is not to be missed!"" - The Magical Buffet ""... profiles about 360 witches and sorcerers from antiquity to the present, focusing on the Western/English-speaking world. He organizes individuals by theme or chronological era, such as the Middle Ages, witches at the royal courts of Europe, the Salem Witch Trials, feminism, witchcraft in postwar Germany, witch-hunts and black magic in modern times, and witchcraft in the digital age, with introductory information on the historical context and issues, followed by biographical entries. He does not include fictional characters or Satanism, Devil worship, Wicca, or other variants of Neopagan religion."" - Book News"