or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
25 used & new from £10.18
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (Penguin History)
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (Penguin History) (Paperback)

by Keith Thomas (Author) "IN the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries England was still a pre-industrial society, and many of its essential features closely resembled those of the 'under-developed areas'..." (more)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
RRP: £18.99
Price: £12.33 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £6.66 (35%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, November 10? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
19 new from £10.57 6 used from £10.18
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback (New edition) 6 used & new from £8.13

Frequently Bought Together

Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (Penguin History) + The Ends of Life: Roads to Fulfilment in Early Modern England + Man and the Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England, 1500-1800 (Penguin Press History)
Price For All Three: £36.24

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Man and the Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England, 1500-1800 (Penguin Press History)

Man and the Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England, 1500-1800 (Penguin Press History)

by Keith Thomas
£10.41
The Witch-hunt in Early Modern Europe

The Witch-hunt in Early Modern Europe

by Brian Levack
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £18.39
Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in Early Modern England

Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in Early Modern England

by James Sharpe
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £13.00
The Ends of Life: Roads to Fulfilment in Early Modern England

The Ends of Life: Roads to Fulfilment in Early Modern England

by Keith Thomas
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £13.50
Witchcraft in Early Modern England

Witchcraft in Early Modern England

by James Sharpe
4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £18.17
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 880 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (30 Jan 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140137440
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140137446
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.4 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 36,625 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Occult > Kabbalah
    #3 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Sacred Texts > Kabbalah
    #3 in  Books > Mind, Body & Spirit > Occultism > Kabbalah

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Product Description

Witchcraft, astrology, divination and every kind of popular magic flourished in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from the belief that a blessed amulet could prevent the assaults of the Devil to the use of the same charms to recover stolen goods. At the same time the Protestant Reformation attempted to take the magic out of religion, and scientists were developing new explanations of the universe. Keith Thomas's classic analysis of beliefs held on every level of English society begins with the collapse of the medieval Church and ends with the changing intellectual atmosphere around 1700, when science and rationalism began to challenge the older systems of belief.


About the Author

Keith Thomas is a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He was formerly President of Corpus Christi College and, before that, Professor of Modern History and Fellow of St John's College. RELIGION AND DECLINE OF MAGIC, his first book, won one of the two Wolfson Literary Awards for History in 1972. He was knighted in 1988 for services to the study of history.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
IN the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries England was still a pre-industrial society, and many of its essential features closely resembled those of the 'under-developed areas' of today. Read the first page
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)
See all 2 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (Penguin History)
90% buy the item featured on this page:
Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (Penguin History) 4.2 out of 5 stars (6)
£12.33
The Ends of Life: Roads to Fulfilment in Early Modern England
5% buy
The Ends of Life: Roads to Fulfilment in Early Modern England 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£13.50
The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England,1400-1580
2% buy
The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England,1400-1580 4.7 out of 5 stars (10)
£11.78
Witchfinders: A Seventeenth-century English Tragedy
1% buy
Witchfinders: A Seventeenth-century English Tragedy 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£6.98
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Controversial Masterpiece., 30 Nov 2005
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.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars More then History., 8 Sep 2001
By T. Mazerolle "terrymaz" (Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
20 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A Book that is good on what it covers, 5 Jan 2005
By S. Timmis "stevetimmis" (Oxfordshire, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book is a classic. It should be read by all serious students of the esoteric and all with a genuine interest in the spiritual history of Western Europe.

The book provides a great deal of detail on the superstitions and quack medicine of the 16th and 17th centuries in Britain. It gives wonderful detail, and some lovely anecdotes, concerning the horrors of 16th and 17th century medicine, and the apothecaries that offered a cheaper, and no less effective service to the poor.

After a general overview of the historical trend there is an in depth study of Astrology, as practised at the time.

Where the book fails, and it fails badly, is that it gives the impression that magic was for the ignorant only. Very little space, about two pages, are devoted to the work of Frances Yates, work I do not think Thomas was keen to understand, but keen to dismiss. The overall result is that I feel Thomas wishes to dismiss magic as old-fashioned mumbo-jumbo, indulged in by the poor and the ignorant in desperate times, and so tells the story of superstition rather than magic.

It is a book that provides a great overview of the social climate of the time, but works with a deliberately narrow definition of magic, a definition that is never properly expounded or discussed, and deals very poorly with hermetic, gnostic and masonic trends, and so does not deal with what the average modern lay-thinker is interested in at all.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars a grounded, informed survey of magical practise in England from the Tudor period into the 17th c.
Keith Thomas' classic and controversial work provides a grounded and informed survey of the spectrum of magical and mantic practise in England from the Tudor period into the 17th... Read more
Published 4 months ago

5.0 out of 5 stars Incisive, enlightening and well before it's time.
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,... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Celtic Cymro

3.0 out of 5 stars Shallow but informative
This book comes highly recommended and is indeed a milestone in the merging of sociology and history in the late sixties. It is however, badly in need of revision. Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2002 by C. SKALA

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject






















i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.