Witches and witchcraft - David Nash

Witchcraft haunts the Western imagination to this day, from Central Europe to Britain to North America. This book explores the development of witchcraft and of the belief in it (stressing the difference between the two), the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century obsession that spawned witch-hunting, the eventual decline of witchcraft, and the phenomenon's fascinating 'afterlife' that has involved the Nazis' fixation and modern treatments including Arthur Miller's acclaimed The Crucible. Fully illustrated with historical documents and colour photographs, and expertly written by Professor David Nash, this book is the perfect introduction to a subject that is compelling, disturbing and a little-understood cultural touchstone.

David Nash is Professor of History at Oxford Brookes University, UK.
He is editor of the journal Social and Cultural History and author of several books on the history of crime, including Christian Ideals in British Society: Stories of Belief in the Twentieth Century (2013) and Blasphemy in the Christian World (2007).