The Witch Hunts: A History of the Witch Persecutions in Europe and North America

Tens of thousands of people were persecuted and put to death as witches between 1400 and 1700 - the great age of witch hunts. Locating its origins 400 years earlier in the growing perception of threats to Western Christendom, Robert Thurston outlines the development of a 'persecuting society' in which campaigns against scapegoats such as heretics, Jews, lepers and homosexuals set the scene for the later witch hunts. He examines the creation of the witch stereotype and looks at how the early trials and hunts evolved, with the shift from accusatory to inquisitorial court procedures and reliance upon confessions leading to the increasing use of torture.

Author: Robert Thurston
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 12/18/2006
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.87lbs
Size: 7.76h x 5.21w x 1.11d
ISBN: 9781405840835

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 05/01/2007 pg. 12

About the Author

Robert Thurston is Professor of History at the Universityof Miami.