mercifully gets to the point with an ease of writing that is a relief to readers who all too often have to resort to plows to get through the verbiage.

'An interesting outline of beliefs about the activities of witches in early modern Germany seen from a standpoint of psychological analysis, but from a standpoint that does not wallow about in jargon or unnecessary speculation. ' Witch Craze presents a story of the ways in which mythologies of evil forces can lead people to carry out unspeakable acts that seems both very foreign and very familiar.'-Merry Wiesner-Hanks, Victorian Studies It is vital and irresistible to try to make windows on the souls of our ancestors, and in this compelling, courageous and inspirational work Lyndal Roper leads the way.'-Malcolm Gaskill, Journal of the Historical Association

This ambitious and subtle book is testament not only to Roper's skill in excavating stories from the German archives, but also to her imagination and determination in reading between the lines of examinations and confessions, venturing where historians fear to tread. Her style is fluent and accessible, but those who examine the 59 pages of closely printed notes will rapidly see the depth of scholarship that underpins her work.'- Times Higher Education Supplement 'Lyndal Roper is an original and insightful historian of witchcraft, and the publication of this major work is most welcome. we finally have a joined up history of the witch.'- The Guardian thanks to Roper's patient and sophisticated work. 'In this brilliant piece of investigative history. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title. She also explores the psychology of witch-hunting, explaining why it was mostly older women that were the victims of witch crazes, why they confessed to crimes, and how the depiction of witches in art and literature has influenced the characterization of elderly women in our own culture. Drawing on hundreds of original trial transcripts and other rare sources in four areas of Southern Germany, where most of the witches were executed, Lyndal Roper paints a vivid picture of their lives, families, and tribulations. This book is a gripping account of the pursuit, interrogation, torture, and burning of witches during this period and beyond. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries thousands of women confessed to being witches-of making pacts with the Devil, causing babies to sicken, and killing animals and crops-and were put to death. A powerful account of witches, crones, and the societies that make them From the gruesome ogress in Hansel and Gretel to the hags at the sabbath in Faust, the witch has been a powerful figure of the Western imagination.

Witch craze lyndal roper