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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Controversial Masterpiece.,
By silas sondanson "silas" (oxford) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (Penguin History) (Paperback)
This is unquestionably one of the great works of history written in Englsh in the 20th century. It is hard, over thirty years later, to conceive of just how radical and imaginative this book appeared when it was first published. It not only transformed our understanding of English religious history, but also helped to permanently change our approach to the past. I would encourage prospective buyers not to pay too much attention to the negative comments in some of other reviews: the fact that this book still inspires controversy and debate a whole generation after its first printing is testimony to its greatness.
37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More then History.,
By
This review is from: Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (Penguin History) (Paperback)
Keith Thomas's Religion and the Decline of Magic was the first of my books for summer reading, and I doubt that any novel that I choose will be half as entertaining or any text as informative. By the conclusion I felt that I was completing an odessey throughout the early modern era with a sympathy and understanding of a world far different then ours in some respects, yet, as Thomas succinctly points out in the conclusion, profoundly similar. No other history book has granted me a deeper sense of understanding about human drives for stability and for explaination in all things. This is a book that grants insight and understanding far beyond its proclaimed subject matter, with positive and sweeping consequences for the objective thinker
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incisive, enlightening and well before it's time.,
By Celtic Cymro (Ffestiniog) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (Penguin History) (Paperback)
This was one of my sources for an essay I wrote on how witchcraft, wise men and divination etc were tolerated more in Britain - even more so in Wales - after the Reformation, while in Catholic Europe, thousands were executed for practicing the so-called "dark arts."
When Catholicism disappeared in Britain, so did all its 'magic' (the rites, ceremonies and blessings that had replaced old pagan charms and offerings). Overnight, people lost their protection from those evil spirits out there, and turned to witches' and wise men's charms and spells. You could say it was a mini boom time for wise men and witches! And these gifted people were no fakes either. Being excellent herbalists and healers, they're magic was trusted, and people had faith in their spells - which made them work too. It was no wonder that people began to believe they could also protect crops from bad spirits that caused storms and drought. Their whole livelihoods depended on this magic. A masterly work, this book is incisive, enlightening, and well before its time.
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