A fairly academic overview of how the British viewed Egypt over the years, how the curse stories were connected to museums, private collections and changing political situations, and what authors drew from all this. Very light on the latter content with story synopses filling the space. I would have also appreciated a more tighter focus, especially in the chapter about magic and occult that was essentially just a short history of occult societies and magical thinking. Although Luckhurst goes on too many tangents, overall the ideas and arguments are solid and worth the read, and a good base for the collection I'm going to be reading next.