"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." This one phrase from Exodus has shaped the lives of countess people throughout history, especially women. The Penguin Book of Witches is a non-fiction account of Witchcraft from medieval England to the new Colonies. Shedding light on the evolution of the trials of the witches themselves to the spread of fear in the new world, this is a comprehensive view of just how witches were accused and tried in the words of the accused and afflicted.
The Penguin Book of Witches examines historical documents and transcripts with explanations for each occurrence within its historical context. While I enjoyed reading about the Salem trials, more interesting to me were the people tried before the hysteria. In enjoyed reading these first hand accounts, even as the Old English threw me for a few loops, I definitely needed to keep flipping back to the notes section, but there was a lot of good information back there. Whenever I read about witchcraft, I am always amazed at some of the parallels to persecution of women today. Among the similarities of the women accused were women of poor economic standing, women who were seen as attempting to gain power or women who practiced medicine. Hopefully we can learn from the past and those who call us "nasty women" today won't begin the craziness again.
The Penguin Book of Witches examines historical documents and transcripts with explanations for each occurrence within its historical context. While I enjoyed reading about the Salem trials, more interesting to me were the people tried before the hysteria. In enjoyed reading these first hand accounts, even as the Old English threw me for a few loops, I definitely needed to keep flipping back to the notes section, but there was a lot of good information back there. Whenever I read about witchcraft, I am always amazed at some of the parallels to persecution of women today. Among the similarities of the women accused were women of poor economic standing, women who were seen as attempting to gain power or women who practiced medicine. Hopefully we can learn from the past and those who call us "nasty women" today won't begin the craziness again.
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