num_pages: 400
description: This is an unconventional analysis of a fascinating historical phenomenon. Rather than focusing on the mechanisms of persecution, this volume presents a rich picture of witchcraft as an all-pervasive aspect of life in early modern Europe. Robin Briggs combines research with his own investigations to produce a compelling account of the central role of witchcraft in the past. Although the history of witchcraft can only be studied through records of persecutions, these reveal that trials were unusual in everyday life and that witchcraft can be viewed as a form of therapy. Witchcraft was also an outlet and expression of many fundamental anxieties of society and individuals in a time when life was precarious. The book argues that witchcraft - its belief and persecutions - cannot be explained by general causes but was as complex and changing as the society of which it formed a vital part.
language: English
title: Witches and Neighbours: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft
titlecomplete: Witches and Neighbours: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft
genres: Crafts, Anthropology, Witches, Witchcraft, History, Magic, Religion, European History, Folklore, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 277
publisher: Wiley-Blackwell