Ronald Hutton is known for his colourful and provocative writings on original subjects. This work is no exception: for the first full-scale scholarly study of the only religion England has ever given the world; that of modern pagan witchcraft, which has now spread from English shores across four continents. Hutton examines the nature of that religion and its development, and offers a microhistory of attitudes to paganism, witchcraft, and magic in British society since 1800. Its pages reveal village cunning folk, Victorian ritual magicians, classicists and archaeologists, leaders of woodcraft and scouting movements, Freemasons, and members of rural secret societies. We also find some of the leading of figures of English literature, from the Romantic poets to W.B. Yeats, D.H. Lawrence, and Robert Graves, as well as the main personalities who have represented pagan witchcraft to the world since 1950. Densely researched, Triumph of the Moon presents an authoritative insight into a hitherto little-known aspect of modern social history.

Bringing witchcraft out of the closet, this full-scale study offers readers a glimpse of modern pagan witchcraft, otherwise known as Wicca. Hutton shows how leading figures in English literature, including W.B. Yeats and D.H. Lawrence, celebrated the positive aspects of the religion in their work, thereby softening the public perception of witchcraft in Victorian England.

Hutton's book is a must-read not only for anyone interested in modern Paganism, or the occult, but it also embodies a deep insight into the development of British society and culture.