Customer Reviews

Witchcraft: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

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As the author of this book correctly states in the introduction, a book on witchcraft will be read. Witchcraft is a very fascinating topic, and witches are some of the most recognizable characters in the world folklore and literature. Furthermore, witches don't only hold fascination for children - even adults are very fascinated by this phenomenon and have been eager to read into witchcraft various political and social critiques. Despite all of this fascination, most people have scarcely ever read any authentic historical or sociological account of witchcraft as it was actually practiced or thought to have been practiced. This short introduction promises to fill that gap. Unfortunately, even though there is a lot of interesting material presented here, there are many shortcomings as well.

The author is very eloquent and good at constructing an interesting phrase. However, it is very hard to follow the main points that he is trying to get across. He jumps from one century to another, from one locale to the next, and from one idea to the subsequent one in a rapid succession and altogether too hastily. The book is written more as an essay about witchcraft than a true historical or sociological account of this phenomenon. It is an interesting narrative, but it is not clear how much of it is the definitive description of witchcraft and how much are the author's own opinions and ideas.

One of the main virtues of this book is that it dispels many myths about witches and witchcraft that have become very popular. In particular, it shows that the actual number of witches that have been executed during the "witch craze" in Europe has mostly been exaggerated. The book also points out the fact that far from being a religiously-inspired, most persecutions of witches had secular and popular underpinnings. To be sure, the religious authorities had their share of blame, but more often than not religious authorities worked at moderating and even suppressing popular hysterias. In this regard this short introduction presents a very sober assessment of the persecution of witches, but it falls short of providing any "unified theory" for the phenomenon. After reading this book I am nowhere closer to understanding those persecutions than I was before.

Overall, this is an interesting book that presents many fascinating ideas and facts, but it should not be used as the definitive introduction to the subject.