Witches

Witch Hunt: History of a Persecution / 0-7858-1858-8 I own and have read an extensive collection of books dealing with the history of witch hunts throughout the world in general and the Spanish Inquisition specifically, and I can honestly say that if you can only pick a single book to read on the topic, this is the one to read. Cawthorne organizes his material painstakingly within the book, with each chapter dealing with a different country or geographical region. This puts to bed the common and mistaken notion that "only" Catholics/Protestants/Spaniards/what-have-you engaged in this systematic murder of innocents. Cawthorne carefully points out that witch hunting was both a Protestant and a Catholic obsession - something that many authors fail to do, usually as a result of focusing only on one geographical region or period of history. Indeed, here we have all the evidence we need that just about everywhere in Europe engaged in witch hunts, regardless of the political and religious inclinations of each individual region. Cawthorne has copious, carefully organized detail - in some cases, details that are difficult to find elsewhere. He cites his sources meticulously, with the final result being a very readable, very informative book. Did you know that a statue of the Virgin Mary in Madrid had arms covered in spikes and that she was capable of "hugging" her victims when a lever was pulled? You might not have, if Cawthorne hadn't found and presented this information. He also carefully links the witch hunts to other historical events, rather than falling into the too-common failing of treating historical events in a vacuum. For instance, did you know that one of the last major witch hunts in Germany incorporated the use of large ovens into the removal of the dead bodies? Witch hunts (which usually included Jewish victims) in Germany were, in many respects, practice for the Holocaust to come later. This book is not light reading. The subject matter is horrible and Cawthorne does not soften it. But the writing is easy to follow, the level of detail is astounding, and the overall work is unimpeachable. I highly recommend this book, and would give it six stars, if I could.

This book is a comprehensive overview of the persecution of witches. I'm not an expert, but to my knowledge, everything is historically accurate. Everything is explained well, and theories are gone into without the author pressing his opinion. In fact, he presents his information in the most non-opinionated way that I've seen in any book. The author obviously has talent in writing. This book goes into detail without being boring, and spans great amounts of history without being too long or seeming to skip around. I was particularly impressed by the historical images found throughout the book and the individual cases of persecution. Though the subject is grim, I greatly enjoyed this book and it is an essential resource on my shelf.

This book is different from the majority of books covering this subject in that it doesn't just concentrate on British witch hunts or the infamous Salem witch trials. Instead it features a more general, international view of the subject and in doing so gives a far better insight into just how widespread the belief in, and fear of witchcraft was in early modern Europe. There are chapters covering the problem in France, Germany, Scandinavia, Spain, Italy and Ireland. The author also includes a list of further reading which is useful. Nigel Cawthorn has a nice, easy style of writing that makes reading this text more enjoyable. The downside of this book is that it is a little too graphic at times. It is enough to know that the poor unfortunates accused of witchcraft were often tortured and executed, without having every detail described. The book loses a star as there is the occasional inaccuracy in Cawthorns historiography which takes a little credibility away. Overall though, an interesting read that is worth a look.