Religion & Spirituality
New Age & Spirituality
![Marion Gibson - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001HD43XY.jpg)
Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials
A fascinating, vivid global history of witch trials across Europe, Africa, and the Americas, told through thirteen distinct trials that illuminate the pattern of demonization and conspiratorial thinking that has profoundly shaped human history.
Witchcraft is a dramatic journey through thirteen witch trials across history, some famous-like the Salem witch trials-and some lesser-known: on Vardø island, Norway, in the 1620s, where an indigenous Sami woman was accused of murder; in France in 1731, during the country's last witch trial, where a young woman was pitted against her confessor and cult leader; in Pennsylvania in 1929 where a magical healer was labelled a "witch"; in Lesotho in 1948, where British colonial authorities executed local leaders. Exploring how witchcraft became feared, decriminalized, reimagined, and eventually reframed as gendered persecution, Witchcraft takes on the intersections between gender and power, indigenous spirituality and colonial rule, and political conspiracy and individual resistance.
Offering a vivid, compelling, and dramatic story, unspooling through centuries, about the men and women who were accused-some of whom survived their trials, and some who did not-Witchcraft empowers the people who were and are victimized and marginalized, giving a voice to those who were silenced by history.
Witchcraft is a dramatic journey through thirteen witch trials across history, some famous-like the Salem witch trials-and some lesser-known: on Vardø island, Norway, in the 1620s, where an indigenous Sami woman was accused of murder; in France in 1731, during the country's last witch trial, where a young woman was pitted against her confessor and cult leader; in Pennsylvania in 1929 where a magical healer was labelled a "witch"; in Lesotho in 1948, where British colonial authorities executed local leaders. Exploring how witchcraft became feared, decriminalized, reimagined, and eventually reframed as gendered persecution, Witchcraft takes on the intersections between gender and power, indigenous spirituality and colonial rule, and political conspiracy and individual resistance.
Offering a vivid, compelling, and dramatic story, unspooling through centuries, about the men and women who were accused-some of whom survived their trials, and some who did not-Witchcraft empowers the people who were and are victimized and marginalized, giving a voice to those who were silenced by history.
Editorial Reviews
"It is wonderful to come across a book that breathes such fresh life and energy into a well-worked subject, covering a huge range of time and space with a unified, passionate and convincing message. Any expert is going to learn something new from it, any newcomer to be enthralled and motivated."
-Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch
"These stories of witchcraft, true and vividly told, demonstrate the potent reality of belief in evil and how in any era or place fear can be weaponised and marginal people, mostly women, labelled as wicked and dangerous. Together they comprise not just a history of witchcraft but a cautionary tale of the uncomfortably human habits of paranoia and persecution."
-Malcom Gaskill, author of The Ruin of All Witches
-Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch
"These stories of witchcraft, true and vividly told, demonstrate the potent reality of belief in evil and how in any era or place fear can be weaponised and marginal people, mostly women, labelled as wicked and dangerous. Together they comprise not just a history of witchcraft but a cautionary tale of the uncomfortably human habits of paranoia and persecution."
-Malcom Gaskill, author of The Ruin of All Witches
