author

L. H. (Lionel Hugh) Branson

1879–1946

A British Army officer in colonial India, he turned years of firsthand observation into a lively guide to Indian stage magic and sleight-of-hand. His best-known book opens a window onto early 20th-century performance traditions as well as the era that produced them.

1 Audiobook

Indian Conjuring

Indian Conjuring

by L. H. (Lionel Hugh) Branson

About the author

Born in 1879, Lionel Hugh Branson is best known as Major L. H. Branson, a British officer in the British Indian Army who also wrote about magic and conjuring. His most widely known work, Indian Conjuring, was first published in 1922 and draws on tricks and performance methods he encountered while serving in India.

Branson wrote in a practical, accessible style, explaining routines step by step for readers interested in learning conjuring for themselves. That mix of military background, travel, and hands-on theatrical knowledge gives his work a distinctive place among early 20th-century books on magic.

He died in 1946. While biographical details about his personal life are not easy to confirm, his writing remains of interest to readers curious about stage magic, popular entertainment, and the complicated colonial world in which his book was written.