I recently finished a relatively new book on Wiccan history titled "Modern Wicca: A History From Gerald Gardner to the Present." Aside of Professor Hutton's work, Triumph of the Moon, I would have to say that this is the best book on the subject that I have read in some time, and even Professor Hutton referred to it as an "extremely important book."
The author, Michael Howard, is a famous author of the popular pagan magazine The Cauldron, and has been part of Wicca since almost the very beginning. As such he draws upon both first hand accounts and very close sources to give an accounting of many little known details of Wiccan origins. Remarkably, rather than follow the suit of other authors who have seen fit to tow left-wing socio-political views as core components of Wicca, Mr. Howard presents a fairly objective history, thus setting him apart from his contemporaries.
If I were to have a criticism, it would be that the book focuses far more on the early days of Wicca to the neglect of further developments. This is not necessarily a bad thing, certainly the work of earlier origins needed to be done. However, as a history "from Gerald Gardner to the present," I had expected the bulk to focus on developments beyond Gardner rather than the opposite. In this sense, the subtitle of the book is slightly deceptive. But again, that is a minor issue at best, given the value of the book overall.
A second, if more substantial criticism, is that the author is somewhat given to speculation in many instances. Wiccan history as documented thus far by most supposed historians (Hutton excluded, of course) has been full of such speculations, opinions, and outright fabrications. While Mr. Howard seems to avoid these, he also relies on some of the unverified earlier contributions to substantiate possible conclusions. However, even as close as he may have been to the original sources, this is still seemingly unavoidable for a variety of reasons.
As a conservative Wiccan, one of the things I valued most was what appeared to be his clear acknowledgment that many of the early members, including Gardner himself, were politically conservative. This is a critical element of understanding that is seemingly absent in most highly politicized approaches to Wicca commonly found today. If we are to listen to the common consensus, Wicca is almost defined by radical left-wing views, and we don't hear a peep about the founders being largely conservative in many if not most of their views. And on the rare occasion that we are confronted with the fact of Gardner the conservative, it is usually dismissed with charges of Gardner the pervert. At least with Howards work, we have an (relatively small) acknowledgment of conservatism in the roots of Wicca by virtue of our forbears political proclivities. And hopefully it will serve as a small base for future inclusion of conservative values in the Wiccan mainstream. A guy can wish, right?
Rather than present an exhaustive review of the book, I would instead offer a hearty recommendation. While the material would be suitable for "outsiders" with only a cursory knowledge of Wicca, it is required reading for Wiccans, plain and simple. Without a doubt, this will be a book I read again, and keep close by for reference.
-VSP
