The Black Arts

Richard Cavendish (born 1930) is a British historian who has written extensively on the subjects of occultism and the tarot.

He was born in 1930 at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. He was the son of a Church of England clergyman. He was educated at Christ's Hospital and at Brasenose College, Oxford where he studied medieval studies. He lived with his partner in America for eight years, living in New York and Los Angeles.

Some of his works are The Black Arts, The Tarot, A History of Magic, and the influential 24-volume set Man, Myth & Magic.

His work is highly regarded for its depth of research and agnostic stance towards its subject matter. The Black Arts in particular remains the most reputable and insightful work on the topic more than four decades after its publication.