Kassell has succeeded in transcending Forman's eccentricities and reconstructing an image of the astrologer-physician of Lambeth worthy of consideration alongside renowned contemporaries like John Dee and William Lilly
Celeste Chamberland, Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft
The second, and best, book on Simon Forman to appear recently...its great strength is that it takes us through all the different aspects of Forman's work...and the mind of an uneducated but remarkable thinker
John Henry, EHR
Kassell's close study of Forman's writings, sensitivity to context, and wide familiarity with his sources and contemporaries has paid dividends with a rich sense of Forman's person and activities, and their relation to the world.
Nicholas Clulee, Renaissance Quarterly
Kassell has an unrivaled knowledge of this voluminous archieve, and her ability to disentangle its complexities, trace themes and make intelligent, perceptive judgements...has resulted in an excellent study.
P.G. Maxwell-Stuart, Social history of Medicine
This book offers new insights into the magical melieu of Elizabethan London.
Michael Hunter, History
a delight to read...This is an exceptional study, absorbing and solidly grounded.
THES