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The Effect: More than 200 effects covering most aspects of stand-up and close-up magic, as well as full details of 28 seperately marketed effects. Also, in-depth material on the topit, Miser's dream, misdirection and an entire section on "now they see it" effects (like paper balls over the head) where different parts of the audience see different things. And a load of comedy material. And priceless handling and performance advice - what to concentrate on and what to not bother with, when the sleight is important and when it doesn't matter. Loads of material on cards, coins, sponge, silk, rope... you get the message. Lots of material, much of it new to me (and I'm a bit of a Page fan).

Cost: £45 + P&P exclusively from Patrick Page Magic Ltd.

Difficulty: (1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)
1 to 5. There's stuff at all levels in here. Excellent teaching. Not sleight heavy, but well-practiced timing and presentation is essential for some effects, hence the 5. Average is somewhere between 2 and 3.

Review: First, this isn't a misty-eyed tribute to the man, or a scrapbook of half-formed ideas - it's a massive, solid body of material that's been created and then obviously honed over decades of real-world performances. As I noted above, I'm a big fan of the late Mr. Page. His style seems to rely more on timing, great routines and presentation than knuckle-busting sleights, which appeals to me. There's a lot of subtlety that's not obvious until you actually try things out - his routines look quite dry and obvious on the page, but are stunning when you see them performed. This book seems to be all the material he was most fond of, brilliantly written up by Mr. Page and edited by Matthew Field. The chapter headings are: Cards, The St***ed Deck, Coins, The Miser's Dream, Miscellaneous - Sponge balls, rope, silks etc, Dealer's Delights, The Topit, Patrick Page's Comedy Magic, Misdirection, and Now They See It. The book is a large, very well produced hardback and runs to 327 or so pages. The illustrations and photographs are excellent. There's a lot of Mr Page's thoughts on bad magic, which are sometimes surprising but always relevant.

Overall: 10/10. I've tried, but I can't find a fault. The price is a bargain, the material is gold - you will definitely find something of value here - and it covers a wide range of magic. I'd go so far as to say that this is the single best magic book I own, and I own a lot (well over 300). In terms of whether the material works, we need look no further than Saturday night prime time TV, literally this last weekend (21/1/2012), when another charming Scottish magician produced a glass of beer from the empty sleeve of his jacket.