Brian P. LevackRecensioni

general survey of social conditions, changes in theology and in law that permitted the witch hunt. Seems well researched and comprehensive.

The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe by Brian Levack (1995)

A good overview of much-debated subject based mainly on good recent scholarly books, not primary research by Levack. Very sensible about the possibilities. A few doubtful statements --says are one point no witness (aside from interrogated witches) claimed to have eve seen a sabbat, but elsewhere does refer to reports of innocent people stumbling across them. Admits there were people practicing both ritual high magic and low-level maleficia (simple curses and the like) but does not think there was any organized devil-worship. May well be right. Aware that reactions to witchcraft varied from very rational enquires wtout torture or mass executions all te way up ton paranoid wholesale persecutions, but the latter were rare.

This book is detailed and rigorous in its approach and superbly argued. Levack explains the European witch-hunt in clear terms and gives pause for thought as to how popular superstitions, when combined with erroneous intellectual beliefs, a dubious judicial system, religious fundamentalism and economic and social unrest, can lead to the persecution and killing of those members of society who, for whatever reason, are regarded as subversive or simply as different and are therefore treated as scapegoats.

5078. The Devil Within Possession & Exorcism in the Christian West, by Brian P. Levack (read 25 Oct 2013) The index of this scholarly book did not indicate that it discussed the Earling exorcism case (which occurred in my home town about the time I was born) but I decided to read the book anyway and when I came to page 241 lo and behold the Earling case was related, occupying almost a page. (Not a good reflection on the index!) This made me glad I decided to read the book, even though some of the discussion of possessions and exorcisms were not of huge interest, jumping around in time and locale a lot. The book suggests that those who hold diabolical possession to be non-existent cannot explain some of the cases, though that there may be mistaken diagnoses is of course possible. While witchcraft is now recognized as a delusion and the excesses in regard to witches are universally deplored, possession has not fallen to the same level of disbelief. Anyone interested in the question owes it to himself or herself to read this book..

It's probably not fair to star rate this as it's aimed at an academic audience and I dropped History the first year of college, and my knowledge Middle/Early Modern Europe is limited to what I picked up studying English lit.

The first half of the book is taken up with the causes, intellectual, judicial, social, and religious, of the witch-craze. These sections were excellent and were also a great primer for my afore mentioned loose grasp of European history. Later in the book I found my eyes glazing over a bit especially during the chronology and geography section. But these sections may be the 'meat' of the book as far as the scholars are concerned. Who knows.

All in all a good, if dense, read for those looking for an fairly in depth look at the European witch hunts.

As history textbooks go, this one isn't bad. It's definitely an overview, but as such, the text is easy to read and remember, and the length of the chapters isn't overwhelming. The size of the book is nice, too--it's lightweight and portable, no more inconvenient to carry around than 3-5 magazines. I wouldn't use this for any in-depth study, but for the 102 course I had it for, it was perfectly adequate.

This is a great book analyzing the outbreaks of witchcraft accusations and trials in Europe. He focuses mainly on continental Europe but also details the differences between England and Europe. The time period is from 1450-1750 when the "witch craze" was at its height. This is an easy read and a great introduction to the topic. It tries to answer questions such as: why did the trials occur? what do the trials tell us about early modern society? Like I said before, this is a great introduction into the whole study of witch trials and accusations in early modern Europe.

an excellent investigation of the society and culture which produced and sustained the witchcraze.½

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Books in Print

Amazon.com

University of Edinburgh. (October 2003). The European Witch-Hunt,http://www.arts.ed.ac.uk/scothist/courses/eurowitchhunt/

Reviews of First Edition:
American Historical Review. October 1988. Vol. 93, issue 4, 1037-1038.

English Historical Review. January 1990. Vol. 105, issue 414, 185-186.

Journal of Modern History. September 1989. Vol. 61, issue 3, 571-573.