W. F. Ryan is academic librarian of the Warburg Institute at the University of London, School of Advanced Studies. He has published widely on the subject of magic in Russia and is co-author of the Penguin Russian Dictionary (1995) and co-editor of numerous scholarly books, including Anglo-Russian Relations in the Age of Peter the Great (1998).
“A work of encyclopedic proportions, The Bathhouse at Midnight is
sure to be the standard reference on Russian magic for years to
come. For being essentially a catalogue, the book reads very
smoothly. . . . Thus, this book can be read from cover to cover or,
with the detailed table of contents and the index, it can be used
to look up a particular phenomenon or beliefs. It will make a fine
textbook, and for mature scholars, this is not only a valuable
reference tool, but piece of scholarship very much worth
emulating.”—Natalie Kononenko Russian Review
“William Ryan’s ambitious volume attempts a comprehensive survey of
manifestations of magic throughout Russian history. . . . The
result is a veritable encyclopedia of magical phenomena and
beliefs, drawn from an extensive range of sources, but particularly
from medieval texts and ethnographic data collected in the
nineteenth century. . . . Ryan’s book is a tour de force. It is
likely to remain the fundamental reference work on magic in Russia
for generations to come.”—Eve Levin Slavic Review
“The Bathhouse at Midnight is an excellent study and source book of
Russian supernatural and magical beliefs that should be read by
anyone working with Russian supernatural belief, with the
comparative study of belief—whether Slavic, European, or
Indo-European—or with Christian folk religion.”—David E. Gay
Journal of Folklore Research
“Ryan’s master work now provides a thorough, well-documented survey
of an extremely rich and fascinating area and constitutes an
invitation to any serious student of magic and its practice to
consider entering this previously uncharted territory.”—Bruce
McClelland History of Religions
“The breath of its grasp, the depth of its treatment of specific
subjects, and the good judgment and erudition Ryan displays
throughout make it an essential reference book for Slavists and
folklorists.”—Linda Ivantis Folklorica
“All in all, Ryan’s book is a marvelous contribution to Slavic
studies. It is great fun to read as well.”—Linda Ivantis
Folklorica
“The Bathhouse at Midnight remains, nonetheless, an outstanding
compilation of magic and its associated beliefs in Russia, as well
as their relations to Western forms.”—Jennifer B. Spock The
Historian
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