Witchfinders by Malcolm Gaskill - ISBN: 9780719561214
Paperback
Fear and superstition ignite England’s deadliest witch hunt in war-torn times.

Witchfinders

A Seventeenth-century English Tragedy

$29.81

  • Paperback

    384 pages

  • Release Date

    8 June 2006

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Summary

By the spring of 1645, civil war had exacted a terrible toll upon England. Disease was rife, apocalyptic omens appeared in the skies, and idolators detected in every shire. In a remote corner of Essex, two obscure gentlemen began interrogating women suspected of witchcraft, triggering the most brutal witch-hunt in English history.

Witchfinders is a spellbinding study of how Matthew Hopkins, ‘the Witchfinder General’, and John Stearne extended their campaign across East Anglia, driven …

Book Details

ISBN-13:9780719561214
ISBN-10:0719561213
Author:Malcolm Gaskill
Publisher:John Murray Press
Imprint:John Murray Publishers Ltd
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:384
Release Date:8 June 2006
Weight:271g
Dimensions:25mm x 133mm x 196mm
A-Format
Witchfinders by Malcolm Gaskill - ISBN: 9780719561214
133 × 196 mm
B-Format
C-Format
A4
mm / in
What They're Saying

Critics Review

Gives the ordinary reader a visceral sense of mid-seventeenth-century England … satisfyingly complex - Selina O’Grady, Literary Review

Very highly recommended - The Cauldron

an ‘evocative travelogue…setpieces of rich description’ - TLS

Gaskill has become an expert on the Great British witch-hunt … a completely readable non-fiction book on a gripping subject.’ - Suffolk Journal, Norfolk Journal, The Essex Magazi

The incessant peculiarity of the accusations could easily make the stories told in this book seem quaint rather than horrific. But Gaskill avoids this trap by describing each case in a vivid manner, making one aware at all times of the human tragedy. His description of a hanging, for instance could leave no reader unmoved - Craig Brown, Book of the Week, Mail on Sunday

It is a riveting subject, engagingly told, and worth a read. - Catholic Herald

The book is a timely warning for those who think that witch trials are a matter of history. - The Times

This is a terrible tale marvellously told … This is how history should be known. - the oldie

About The Author

Malcolm Gaskill

Malcolm Gaskill was born in Suffolk but grew up in Kent. He attended Cambridge University where he read History. He completed a PhD on early modern England, then taught at Keele, Belfast and APU, before becoming Director of Studies in History at Churchill College, Cambridge, in 1999.

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