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Editorial Reviews
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In Milton Meltzer's study of all things witchy, it's all uphill from the first line, which reads simply, "Witches, witches, witches!" A person could get the impression that the author doesn't really have a feel for the possibilities of his subject. Keep reading, though, as this is a humanistic and well-researched history... if a little dry. Meltzer has clearly set out to debunk witch mythology, revealing the way that a community's marginal figures often become persecuted by society. While this is a fine theme, Meltzer seems to have little sense of the kind of gory details that make people, and especially young people, interested in witches in the first place. His book works best when rooted in the specific, as with the chapter "Lady Alice from Kilkenny Town," in which he recounts the folktale of a 14th-century Irish witch, and then shows, through historical research, how her story may have been distorted. While the dry tone may be off-putting to those not already engaged in the subject, kids interested in the occult and in America's colonial history (there's a chapter on Salem, naturally) will find sophisticated explanations of the people we call witches and the witch-hunts we subject them to. --Claire Dederer
From Publishers Weekly
Meltzer (Never to Forget: The Jews of the Holocaust) crams a lot of ideas and insights into this ambitious, unusually meaty survey of witch-hunts from medieval Europe to 20th-century America. Some of his perceptions are piercing in their simplicity and acuity: for example, he posits that a believer in witchcraft is not satisfied by an explanation of how some misfortune has occurred; the believer wants to know why the misfortune has befallen him or her. Meltzer supplies superb documentation, as in a letter smuggled out of a 17th-century German prison describing exactly how its author had been forced to confess to witchcraft and to implicate others. However, Meltzer leaves an uncharacteristic number of gaps, both small and large. There are incomplete statements of fact (e.g., he writes, "When Christianity became the state religion back in the early fourth century," while referring to Europe in general); and some material is inadequately analyzed (e.g., he balances a discussion of the prejudice directed at midwives by citing a 17th-century English midwife's handbook, but he doesn't indicate the influence or reception of that book). In the contemporary sections, the comparisons of Inquisition-style witch-hunts with the persecution of Jews under Hitler and of Communists under McCarthy are sketched out rather than closely reasonedAthey form a starting point rather than a conclusion. Given the breadth of Meltzer's thesis and his wide variety of perspectives (feminist, anthropological, etc.), it is perhaps not surprising that depth suffers; fortunately, what is presented has color and bite, more than enough to get readers thinking on their own. Ages 8-14. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
In Milton Meltzer's study of all things witchy, it's all uphill from the first line, which reads simply, "Witches, witches, witches!" A person could get the impression that the author doesn't really have a feel for the possibilities of his subject. Keep reading, though, as this is a humanistic and well-researched history... if a little dry. Meltzer has clearly set out to debunk witch mythology, revealing the way that a community's marginal figures often become persecuted by society. While this is a fine theme, Meltzer seems to have little sense of the kind of gory details that make people, and especially young people, interested in witches in the first place. His book works best when rooted in the specific, as with the chapter "Lady Alice from Kilkenny Town," in which he recounts the folktale of a 14th-century Irish witch, and then shows, through historical research, how her story may have been distorted. While the dry tone may be off-putting to those not already engaged in the subject, kids interested in the occult and in America's colonial history (there's a chapter on Salem, naturally) will find sophisticated explanations of the people we call witches and the witch-hunts we subject them to. --Claire Dederer
From Publishers Weekly
Meltzer (Never to Forget: The Jews of the Holocaust) crams a lot of ideas and insights into this ambitious, unusually meaty survey of witch-hunts from medieval Europe to 20th-century America. Some of his perceptions are piercing in their simplicity and acuity: for example, he posits that a believer in witchcraft is not satisfied by an explanation of how some misfortune has occurred; the believer wants to know why the misfortune has befallen him or her. Meltzer supplies superb documentation, as in a letter smuggled out of a 17th-century German prison describing exactly how its author had been forced to confess to witchcraft and to implicate others. However, Meltzer leaves an uncharacteristic number of gaps, both small and large. There are incomplete statements of fact (e.g., he writes, "When Christianity became the state religion back in the early fourth century," while referring to Europe in general); and some material is inadequately analyzed (e.g., he balances a discussion of the prejudice directed at midwives by citing a 17th-century English midwife's handbook, but he doesn't indicate the influence or reception of that book). In the contemporary sections, the comparisons of Inquisition-style witch-hunts with the persecution of Jews under Hitler and of Communists under McCarthy are sketched out rather than closely reasonedAthey form a starting point rather than a conclusion. Given the breadth of Meltzer's thesis and his wide variety of perspectives (feminist, anthropological, etc.), it is perhaps not surprising that depth suffers; fortunately, what is presented has color and bite, more than enough to get readers thinking on their own. Ages 8-14. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
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- Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Biography (American Literary Greats) by Milton Meltzer in Front Matter