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"Excellently illustrated, Witchcraft is an intelligent exploration"
Product Description
Witchcraft is a complete history of witches in the West, from their early origins, persecution in the 16th century to the pagan witches of modern times.
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2 reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Scholarly, original and entertaining
22 Sep 2006
Format:Paperback
Every so often, you pick up a book on a whim, and it turns out to be something essential to your library. I often buy books on the history of witches and witchcraft, but rarely find them to be more than a pleasant retelling of the same old stories, so Maxwell-Stuart's book took me completely by surprise. (Especially given that it was published as part of a 'Dark Histories' series, which made it sound rather dubious to me.)
As it turns out, Maxwell-Stuart is a real scholar, with what seems like an encyclopedic knowledge of his subject and a serious interest in its history and how it is interpreted. He does a superior job of making sense out of the gillimaufry that is witchcraft history. I not only learned a lot (including that lovely word, 'gillimaufry'), but I was not infuriated by his conclusions, which were intelligent and significant (by which, I suppose, I mean I agreed with them!) Chapter 2, Enter the Christian Witch, was particularly fascinating to me; it was the first time I had read such a thorough and well-researched account of the transition from Greco-Roman ideas of witches to Christian ideas of witches. Absolutely absorbing!
As it turns out, Maxwell-Stuart is a real scholar, with what seems like an encyclopedic knowledge of his subject and a serious interest in its history and how it is interpreted. He does a superior job of making sense out of the gillimaufry that is witchcraft history. I not only learned a lot (including that lovely word, 'gillimaufry'), but I was not infuriated by his conclusions, which were intelligent and significant (by which, I suppose, I mean I agreed with them!) Chapter 2, Enter the Christian Witch, was particularly fascinating to me; it was the first time I had read such a thorough and well-researched account of the transition from Greco-Roman ideas of witches to Christian ideas of witches. Absolutely absorbing!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Interesting contribution to the field
12 July 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This work presents a slightly alternative history of witchcraft aimed at challenging popular beliefs. The book attempts to challenge the perception that primarily women were engaged in witchcraft, that all witchcraft trials avoided due process, and so forth. It includes, most interestingly, an overview of a trial for withcraft in Italy in 1982 as well as a fairly detailed account of a 17th century set of trials in Scotland.
Additionally, the book takes an in-depth and critical look at the Malleus Malifacarum, its structure and impact, etc.
The scholarship is quite good and while I disagree with the author in a number of areas, this disagreement must be understood to be a matter of differing definitions or interpretation of evidence. I see nothing wrong with his analysis.
All in all, this is an eye-opening work. It's well worth reading for students of history in related topics.
Additionally, the book takes an in-depth and critical look at the Malleus Malifacarum, its structure and impact, etc.
The scholarship is quite good and while I disagree with the author in a number of areas, this disagreement must be understood to be a matter of differing definitions or interpretation of evidence. I see nothing wrong with his analysis.
All in all, this is an eye-opening work. It's well worth reading for students of history in related topics.
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