The Book of English Magic by Philip Carr-Gomm and Richard Heygate

John Murray, £25; 562pp; Buy this book

Now that we are all Wicca-wise, it is evidently time for a user-friendly primer to introduce us to the lore and practice of low-level magic and guide us to magic places countrywide. Look for ley lines and walk the old ways; learn to cast runes and lay out the Tarot; search for the Grail; find out about Freemasons; take a shamanic journey; dowse for water. You can treat this book lightly as a magical mystery tour for all the family on a half-term break or, for readers who want to get a little darker and deeper into magic, there are well-informed suggestions and sources for further reading and research.

The Scourging Angel: The Black Death in the British Isles by Benedict Gummer

The Bodley Head, £25; 512pp; Buy this book

Everything you thought you knew about the Black Death is probably wrong. First, it was not bubonic plague and its origin is still unknown; second, widespread mortality did not cause the death of feudalism, which was already in decline; third, the Black Death is the name given to the plague by Victorians. Now that you are infected with interest, read on and learn a very great deal about life in Britain and more widely throughout Europe in the mid-14th century before and after the pandemic. This remarkable, ambitious book by a new, young historian is positive about the new society that survived disaster.

Hops and Glory: One Man's Search for the Beer that Built the British Empire by Pete Brown

Macmillan, £14.99; 458pp; Buy this book

It is tempting to think of India Pale Ale (IPA) as the lager of the Raj. Certainly it seems to have had the same loutish effect on expats. It was invented in the 18th century as a safe, clean drink for tropical topers and can still be bought today, though as an even more pale shadow of its original self. In a fit of nostalgia for the British Empire and original IPA, Pete Brown, in association with the master brewer Steve Wellington, loaded a keg of unfermented Burton IPA on a tall ship and sailed it to India via the Cape of Good Hope. The tale of his travels and the alcoholic history of the Raj is big beery fun.

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