Witchcraft

A ΓÇ£thought-provoking and timelyΓÇ¥ (The Times) global history of witch trials across Europe,Africaand the Americastold through thirteen distinct trials that illuminate a pattern of demonization and conspiratorial thinking that has profoundly shaped human history. This ΓÇ£inventive and compellingΓÇ¥ (Times Literary Supplement) work of social history travels through thirteen witch trials across historysome famousΓÇölike the Salem witch trialsΓÇöand some lesser-known: on Vard├╕ islandNorwayin the 1620swhere an indigenous Sami woman was accused of murder; in France in 1731during the countryΓÇÖs last witch trialwhere a young woman was pitted against her confessor and cult leader; in Lesotho in 1948where British colonial authorities executed local leaders. Exploring how witchcraft was fearedthen decriminalizedand then reimagined as gendered persecutionWitchcraft takes on the intersections between gender and powerindigenous spirituality and colonial rulepolitical conspiracy and individual resistance. Offering a strikingdramatic journey unspooling over centuries and across continentsWitchcraft is a ΓÇ£well-rounded insight into some of the strangest and cruelest moments in historyΓÇ¥ (Buzz Magazine)giving voice to those who have been silenced by history.