Sorcerer's Apprentice

As a child in rural England, Tahir Shah first learned the secrets of illusion from a visiting Indian magician, the hereditary guardian of his ancestor's tomb. More than two decades later he set out to India on a quest: to study the form of magic used across the subcontinent on a daily basis by so-called 'godmen'.

Making his way to Kolkata, Tahir is taken on by Hakim Feroze, magician, illusionist, sadist, master, and irrepressible polymath, before embarking on what is described as a 'journey...