Harry Potter: A History of Magic

An Audio Documentary

By: Pottermore Publishing, Ben Davies

Narrated by: Natalie Dormer

Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

The history of magic is as long as time and as wide as the world. In every culture, in every age, in every place and, probably, in every heart, there is magic.

Harry Potter: A History of Magic reveals some of the hidden stories behind real-world magic and explores some of J.K. Rowling's magical inventions alongside their folkloric, cultural and historical forebears.

Narrator Natalie Dormer and a host of experts will take you on an audio journey like no other; from ancient China, to a 14th-century apothecary's shop, on to the Salem witch trials and beyond. They delve into a rich body of writings about magic and explore intriguing artefacts to bring to life deep-rooted ideas of mysticism from around the world.

Along the way, you can listen for handy tips on how to capture a basilisk, make yourself invisible or create your very own philosopher's stone. You'll hear about the dozens of drafts and drawings that went into J.K. Rowling's writing process and enjoy exclusive interviews with Jim Dale, Stephen Fry and illustrator Jim Kay, who all share their experiences of working on these incredible stories.

The extraordinary and thought-provoking tales in this audiobook are perfect for anyone who wants to know a little more about magic and the wizarding world.

In this audio documentary, Natalie Dormer takes you on a spellbinding exploration of the real-world history that influenced J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter stories. While not written by J.K. Rowling herself, nor taught by the slumbering Professor Binns, the documentary is inspired by the exhibition held at the British Library in 2017, which came to the New-York Historical Society in 2018. This audiobook is packed full of exclusive interviews, folkloric facts, and musings on intriguing artifacts and mysticism from around the world.

Music composed by Patrick Neil Doyle

Sound effects licensed from ProSound Effects

©2018 J.K. Rowling/Pottermore Ltd. (P)2018 J.K. Rowling/Pottermore Ltd.

Verry good.

I'd done my research before buying the book, so it was neither a surprise nor a disappointment.
For those interested in folklore and history like myself, then this book is for you. If you're hoping for more about the books themselves however, their is very little of that out side of a couple of extracts.
I really enjoyed the book, especially Natalie Dormer's narration. I'm blind, and I've listened to over 2,000 audio books from actors, many of whom do it professionally. For those that come into it from stage or screen it can be difficult to adapt sometimes, but she's managed it very well.

Interesting and educational!

I enjoyed listening to this book. It is not about fiction per se but about how the world and creatures in J.K. Rowling stories are related to historical and mythological thoughts, ideas and creatures of other writers. It brings in museum references and the artists of the Harry Potter series. I was left in awe of the tremendous amount of research and hard work that has been done to create the world J. K. Rowling envisioned in her work, even before the magic of film and computer generated images. There is a great detail and thoughtful discussion that created this book. It is an amazing tribute to it's collaborators as well as Ms. Rowling. Thank you all for an enjoyable listen. I now want the illustrated versions of the series.

Mildly Interesting

This book was mildly interesting. It uses Harry Potter as a springboard to talk about just what it says it’s about: The History of Magic. I think I expected it to be more about the Harry Potter world. Most of the narration was great but one young woman was so amused with herself and what she was saying that she giggled through most of her narrations. It became really annoying! My other complaint is that a great deal of time was spent describing pictures that we could not see. If you’re really interested in this subject, I suggest that you read a hard copy.

It was OK. Just not what I was expecting.

First off let me say Natalie Dormer was amazing. The story though wasn’t really what I was expecting, I was expecting more of things to do with Harry Potter in the wizarding world rather than real life witchcraft and wizardry. I would’ve liked to see more of a history of Harry Potter magic I guess is what I’m trying to say not witchcraft and wizardry and how it relates to the real world. This is the reason

The history will amaze you

This book was not what I expected it to be, which isn't a bad thing. So this book is literally a history lesson in time about different cultures, places, and items that were used in the Harry Potter book series. This book tells you the history of all these items and which ones are deemed magical. The narrator breaks down each book from the beginning when J.K. Rowling wrote or scribbled down photos and what changed when the books came out to the public. This book goes through some of the classes and characters, it is interesting to see some of the people were real and have history.

Great Harry Potter companion

A very interesting companion to the Harry Potter novels. The narration was fine but a lot of the audio interviews and even transition music was NOT recorded well and is very grainy, scratchy, and distorted. The production quality is not what I would expect from something with Harry Potter in the title. Zero excuse for terrible audio in an audiobook.

Not what I expected but.....

When I preordered this I thought it would be another reading of one of the Hogwarts school books. I guess I should have read the synopsis beforehand.

But after listening to it, I remembered that there was an ebook for the exhibit that I could buy. So I bought it and it does help the experience a bit more as you look through the book as the story goes along to see what exactly they are describing in the book.

As a whole, it was very interesting and a good listen/read for fans of J.K. Rowlings. To see and hear about all she did to bring this world to the public is great.

what a history!!

loved the connection with the fantasy and the mystical stories in our history from enchantment and spells, to alchemy!!
she has an amazing mind!; Well read and studied all the interlocking connection with our reality and her fantasy!!

Great Backstory, but curious organization.

Hello, I got into the world of audiobooks by listening to the Harry Potter series on tape, narrated by Jim Dale. Not only was this a great look back at the Harry Potter series and the some of the real life inspirations of the series, but it was a wonderful peak behind the audio books, movies, and various artwork that parallels the book series. The various experts, artists, historians, and others who leant their voices to this production did a superb job of taking the listener on a journey through real magical history, JK Rollings creative process, fun stories and anecdotes of the written, audio, and movie production of the Harry Potter series.

That said, I was more than a little confused by how the production was organized. There is a very nice explanation of the four main categories all of the narratives come from. But even though each category is listed at the beginning of each chapter, the whole thing felt a little random.

Overall I really enjoyed it and found some interesting insight into some of the lore behind the series. So I’m I’m sure any reader will enjoy this.

Very good

This really clarifies and brings to light things you didn't know or realize. Like another Horucrux in it's own right.