White Magic: The Story of the Maskelynes - Jasper Maskelyne

I can't claim to have a natural love for magic, but I heard this man's name in relation to WWII and saw that he wrote a memoir of his family. His name was also mentioned in the Charles Fraser-Smith book I read, but since this came out in 1936, naturally there isn't going to be any reference to anything WWII related in this book.

Jasper is descended from a long line of magicians. It's clear from the book that he reveres his grandfather. Out of the 260ish pages, over 100 of them are dedicated to his grandfather, J.N. According to the stories and all the man accomplished, he clearly earned the title of "genius" that Jasper called him. J.N. was approached during WWI and had aspirations of helping out in the world with his inventions. Many just ended up being ahead of their time.

The book is what it advertises. It's the story of the magical family from J.N. to Jasper. There are many anecdotes in there, and the writing style is engaging. The family was active in exposing spiritualists by reproducing events from meetings and debunking ghosts. He tells stories of times when things went wrong, and even tells how some things are accomplished if they are commonly known at the time.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. Not being a "magic" person, I wasn't sure what I would think, especially since I wouldn't get to read how Jasper made military bases disappear during WWII, but this really was a fun book. He mentions a few times that he would like to retire to the old family farm, but after a bit of research, that never happened. It also looks like he wrote a book after the war called Magic: Top Secret, but it looks like it's really hard to get. Wish me luck! Good Book!