Fascinating, informative - would be a perfect October book club pick. I imagine interesting conversation would spring up around a lot of the elements in this book.

I'm not sure why but I just find the stories of women (and some men) accused of witchcraft fascinating. Not that they were killed but just all the events that culminated to reach these points. At this time I am pretty well versed in the Salem trials, and while they were talked about, I enjoyed learning about ones I haven't heard of in the past. I found the way she brought it into the present day was seamless and showed how these witch hunts are still happening in other forms.

Thank you Netgalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one. Several of the cases I had never heard of before and I found it interesting how the idea of witchcraft has pervaded so many vastly different cultures and women have been tortured and executed for simply an idea. I recommend this one if you haven’t read an history in witchcraft and the persecution perpetrated its name. Thank you to @netgalley and @scribnerbooks for an e-arc of this book.

A great book that discusses the history of witches and witchcraft and outlines the historical aspects that took place. I love the cover art and how catchy this book is! A must read if you have any interest in the subject.

A readable and thought provoking history of witchcraft trials. Our history book club will really enjoy it. Will definitely be ordering for my library.

"Witchcraft" by Marion Gibson is well-researched. I would recommend this title to those readers who have a heavy interest in the history of 'witches' and whom want to extend their knowledge. I would not recommend this to someone as a casual-first-time-reader of witches due to the academic vibe it's got going on.

Thank you NetGalley for providing us readers with this title.

Unfortunately I did not finish this title. I only got about 5% in. It was so dry and boring it was quite literally putting me to sleep.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. It was interesting to read about the various trials in this book. I think when most people think of witches, they think of women; but men could also be accused of being one as well. I think many view witch trials as a thing of the past; but it’s still happening.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! It's well researched and well-written. I would recommend this to those who are interested. Thank you to Marion Gibson, Scribner and NetGalley for allowing me to read a completely copy in exchange for a honest review.

This was a really interesting book that provides a fascinating history of witchcraft. I like how the author followed timelines of historical witch trials and how they were affected by political and social expectations at the time. I think this is a great book for anyone who wants to dive deeper into the specific history of witchcraft. 4.5/5 Stars

This book tackles the plight of witchcraft accusations throughout history, as it pertains to controlling women and forcing them into subservient roles. I found the first 5 trials to be extremely interesting, but unfortunately once we left the typical “witch burning” times I was significantly less invested. This is not the fault of the author, I just am not as interested in this section of history, unfortunately. I did find the narrative of this book interesting, as we focus on the women in these specific trials, and how they relate to one another (one woman being powerful enough to shake off and chase away the accusations, to other women being too poor and underprivileged to do so), but I felt some of this book seemed to jump around too much between timelines and locations.

Thank you Scribner for the opportunity to read this book.

3.5 stars

Author Marion Gibson, a historian of witchcraft and magic, writes about ancient and modern witches and witch-trials. In this book, Gibson hones in on thirteen trials that span Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

In modern times people often associate witches with characters in television shows like Bewitched, Charmed, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Mayfair Witches, etc., where the witches are funny or helpful or heroic....protagonists we root for. In the real world, however, witches have generally been thought of as evil beings who use magic to do harm. In the Bible, witch stories extend back hundreds of years BCE, but witch hunts really took off during the medieval period, with the study of demonology by Christian clergymen. According to Gibson, clerics believed witches were committed to wickedness, and "the imaginative world of the 15th to 18th centuries was crammed with curses and blessings, angels, devils, ghosts, sprits that could invade bodies, fairies, and elves."

Witches, thought to be empowered by Satan, caused fear and terror, and had to be rooted out of society. Gibson writes that most witches were thought to be female, and many of them were poor and uneducated. Gibson goes on to say, "Christian priests were all male....[and some] were obsessed with the regulation of women: their sexuality, conduct, and thought." Often, women (and a few men) accused of witchcraft were perceived as wanting revenge for some slight, so that something happened to the offender: their cow died, their wife couldn't conceive, their ship sank, their crops failed, their business lost money, their child took sick, and so on.

Gibson discusses thirteen witch trials, expanding on the lives of the accused as well as the accusers, and she provides background details of the time, place, atmosphere, laws, religious beliefs, witnesses, verdicts, etc. Many 'witches' were tortured into 'confessing', and the tales are shocking and sad.

I'll mention a few examples of witch trials, to give you a glimpse of the book.

Helena Scheuberin (1485) in Austria. Helena was accused of poisoning a knight named Jörg Spiess, who had wanted 'more than friendship' with married Helena. Helena was tried by inquisitor Heinrich Kramer who believed witches were devil-worshippers who had given their souls to Satan; prayed to the devil; killed animals and people; and performed every evil they could imagine.

Tatabe (1692) in Salem, Massachusetts. Native American Tatabe grew up in Barbados and was brought to Salem as a slave. Tatabe was unfortunate enough to be enslaved in the household of a Puritan minister named Samuel Parris when young girls in the home claimed to be bewitched.

Helen Duncan (1941) in Barham, England. Helen was a spiritualist/medium who announced that a British ship, the HMS Barham was lost BEFORE this information was public knowledge. This 'foreknowledge', as well as Helen channeling dead people, materializing ectoplasm, and so on led to accusations of witchcraft.

Stormy Daniels (2020) in Columbus, Ohio. Stormy (perhaps best known for her liaisons with Donald Trump) is an adult film star, tarot-reader, ghost-hunter, medium, and believer in a non-traditional religion. When Stormy sued her lawyer Michael Avenattii for defrauding her, she found herself accused of being 'a witch who practices witchcraft.'

The libeling of Stormy Daniels shows that accusations of 'witch' still occur in modern times. Gibson notes, "Witchcraft is still criminalized in multiple nations and quasi-states." The author observes that in Guatemala, traditional healers were killed for being witches in 2021; during Nepal's civil war (1996-2006), suspected witches were beaten or burned to death; in Britain in 2000, a 'child witch' of African descent was tied up in a bath, beaten with hammers and chains, burned, and cut. And more.

The author has done an immense amount of research for the book, which has extensive notes and an index. The narrative is interesting but dry and repetitive, and the author tries too hard to connect incidents in disparate places. What comes across very clearly is that men have felt compelled to control women from time immemorial, and an accusation of witchcraft is one tool in their arsenal. Historically, this has been a powerful tool, and it continues in some places today.

The book is well worth reading for readers interested in the subject matter.

Thanks to Netgalley, Marion Gibson, and Scribner for a copy of the book.

It's rare to find a witchcraft history book that doesn't end up becoming a slog to get through. I enjoyed Witchcraft by Marion Gibson because it keeps my attention, even when my brain is taking in so much information at once. You can tell the author knows her stuff and took a lot of time and effort to research the history of witches, and make sure to dish out the right, correct information.

I like how the author tied in present day issues witches everywhere face and I like how she showcased that witch trials are not a thing of the past, they exist in present day.

This is a book everyone who is interested in witchy things should read. The amount of informative information on each trial is well-written and easily digestible. I enjoyed it!

I’ve always been interested in the history of the Salem witch trials, and I’ve even read some about those in Europe. But adding in Africa, as well, makes this an even more interesting read for me. I said, and claimed others did. A great read.

I thought this had good coverage of the thirteen specific trials, so it was exactly what was "on the tin" so to speak. However, I wish there was more of a philosophical overview of the concept and patterns of witchcraft and witch trials in general. There was some in the introduction, but I wish there was more.

It is so striking and insightful. It was quite different from what I expected from the cover in the best possible ways. I’m so glad i gave it a chance.

I thought this was very interesting and insightful. This covered early witch trials across the globe all the way up to modern “witch hunts” as seen in recent politics. Not only were the trials themselves covered but also the events leading up to and after the trials’ conclusion were throughly discussed. I’m glad this important information was included as the events between all persons involved in these trials is relevant as to why they were accused and found guilty or innocent. In the third part, the modern terminology and practice of being a witch is discussed at length. I enjoyed this section so much because it laid out the parallels between politicians and witchcraft accusations and the witch trials of centuries ago. This book covers an incredible amount of information in just 300 pages and is a must read for anyone interested in the history of witch trials.

A much-needed book [especially in these times], which gives a healthy reminder of just what happened during the past [usually, by men {as women were "voiceless"}in the name of God/Jesus while filled with pious morality {and often overlooking their own personal lack of morality}, all while burning OTHER HUMAN BEINGS ALIVE in punishment for something they could never, ever prove] and just how easy it is to rile up a crowd with the simple words of "witch" or "witch-hunt" [and how quickly that same crowd will let anger overcome them and lead them to do such atrocities that most rational people thought we were far past [but apparently not] and lead them to seek out those who are causing harm and chaos [without seeing it is their very selves that are causing it].

Meticulously researched and delivered with both compassion AND with unflinching honesty, this is a must-read book for times such as right now. We cannot forget the past - it helps us fight the evils of today.

"If you're being encouraged to blame someone - attack, despise, persecute, banish, demonize them - think about whether they ave any of the characteristics of the "witch" as an innocent person wrongly accused. Do accusers' claims remind you of of any made by witch-hunters? If so, how can you challenge their binary thinking, disentangle reality from fiction, and stop witch-hunting - in politics, religion, wider society, even the courts? For the fortunate, a witch-hunt is just a metaphor - but this history should make clear how many witches are still on trial."
Marion Gibson [from the Epilogue]

Thank you to NetGalley, Marion Gibson, and Scribner for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a truly fascinating book! It's apparent (& highly appreciated!) that there was a lot of time, energy, and research that went into this. I'll be honest- history is not my strong suit, and never has been. That said, I've always found the the Salem with trials incredibly fascinating, so it was awesome to read, in depth, about other with trials across the world. It's insane to me how a witch hunt begins (and ends, for that matter), and I mean both literal and metaphoric witch hunts..... I'd definitely say this book is worth picking up. It's well written, in depth, concise.... just an overall interesting read.