Thousands of years ago there were wonderful effects of illusionism. They appear in the first fantastic text contributed by Egypt, in various episodes of the Bible, in the first culturally European epic —the magic wands of the Odyssey—, the famous historical works of Herodotus and Ctesias, the manuals of Philo of Byzantium and Heron of Alexandria, and even in the universal Satyricon. Illusionism was, already then, an artistic discipline of entertainment in which magic effects were used, just like today, to amaze and entertain, but also to simulate gods´ miracles. In the eyes of those "spectators" there was no magician hiding their arts, just the divinity as the only executor of such prodigies. It is the so-called hidden hand of magic. History of magic, illusionism from prehistory to the fall of the Roman Empire, is the first book that deals with the origins of illusionism. Rigorous but quick to read, it captures the reader´s attention and immerses them in the history of a secret and unknown art that fascinates the very essence of the human being.