13 trials

There were some interesting elements in this book, but sometimes I found myself wanting more detail. I understand there are limits to the sources, but more quotes from the actual primary sources would have been appreciated. I enjoyed the medieval chapters far more than the modern witchcraft trials. I think the author tried to cover too much in the last few chapters, so it felt a bit rushed.

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Reverent now.

New insights into an important and devastating part of history and the present. Chapter on Stormy Daniels especially relevant now. Looking at what is hard to look at. Understanding what must be understood, in order to avoid new mistakes. Well told, easy to read and follow.

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Disappointing

Some good parts but others quite disappointing. Lacks a bit of detail.

The pre-C21 pieces are good but the author seems to loose it a bit in the later chapters. Becomes a bit of a rant on the evils of modern society.

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Engaging accounts of a range of ‘witch’ trials

An engaging and well-researched analysis which is well-written. This book will prove of interest to anyone curious about the representation of witchcraft and witches across several contexts. The material is wide-ranging and well-managed and is presented in a very readable/listenable manner.

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Fantastic

The accuracy of the stories, nowadays folk make stuff up or pass their interpretation off as fact!

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Maybe not the most enjoyable read...

I was really invested at first, but the stories get a little repetitive. I am really into witchy stuff, especially during the spooky season; however I found it hard to stay engaged with the narrative.
Well researched, but reads like a literature review.
I did listen to the last third in x1.7 speed.

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Returned

The writing and narration of this book wasn’t for me. I’m going to own it and say perhaps I didn’t realise what it was, or perhaps I was expecting something a little more engaging. Whatever I was expecting, it wasn’t this. I found it really dull in every sense and despite trying couldn’t ever get past the first half an hour or so before falling asleep.

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4 people found this helpful

A bit preachy

The books begins with a discussion of the development of demonological accounts of witches and witchcraft, setting up a good/evil binary. As the book goes on the terms of the binary change with “woman” equating to “good” and “man” equating to “evil”. Other terms stand in for good/evil at places in the text, for example in the accounts of witchcraft in colonial and contemporary Africa. Fine as far as it goes.

Later chapters explore figurative uses of the various terms, and how laws have tried to keep up with changing beliefs about witchcraft. Here there is a blurring of edges and the knocking down of straw men, sometimes with comic effect; that Donald Trump can not be a witch because he is a powerful, rich, white man.

These chapters demonstrate how unhelpful it can be to assume that terms retain the same meaning through historical time and place. Accepting that Stormy Daniels is a witch does not help explain why King James feared that there were those who had the means to drown him and his companions by blowing on straw. Nor does it help explain why there are 20,000 child “witches” living homeless on the streets of one Africa city today.

That is the problem, I think. In the end the book is less about witchcraft than about outing the usual suspects for a wide variety of crimes. In that sense it is itself a kind of a witch-hunt, I suppose.

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3 people found this helpful