Cursed Britain is not really the book I wanted to read. I was expecting a look at the history of witchcraft in Britain, but what I received was much more academic and this was clearly not meant to be read through in the way I was intending. I did enjoy the sections that discuss how psychics and witches were an early form of mental healthcare, but these sections were bogged down by the large amount of stuff I didn't care about.

There is a lot of information in this book and not all of is fact based. The author includes a lot of his own opinions about Witchcraft and Black Magic. I found the book to be hard and slow to read.

An interesting book with facts about the occult in the 19th century britain! i really like the read, even if it took me a while to finish it up as its a non fiction!

I really enjoyed reading this book, the book is so well written and researched. It was a good read that you could tell that the author knows what he's talking about.

This should have been a magnificent book. It should have been one of those tomes that you are constantly dipping in and out of, in search of one arcane fact or another. In fact, it reads like an overall article that was submitted to the Fortean Times... and promptly sent back again, with the two-word cover letter, "so what?"

Waters' premise is fascinating, and the book is certainly weightly enough that he could have explored it in painstaking depth. Instead, it's just one incident after another, reiterated in sufficient detail to get you interested, and then blinking out without any... I don't know. Resolution? Discussion? You know how modern news broadcasts will tell how "this" happened, "that" happened and "something else" happened, but you never, ever get to find out what happened next to any of them? That's how "Cursed Britain" feels. It's a gazeteer without a map, a list without a purpose, and ultimately a bore.

Such a shame.

Impressive, creepy, entertaining! Anything sinister dealing with the dark and cursed is just down my alley, so this prescious read was perfect for me. I got to know a side of Britain that ist hidden most of the time and man, did I enjoy the ride!

I have not finished this title. I read about 40% but could not focus enough to complete this one. The summary lead me to believe I would be reading a book with a more story-telling style of non-fiction, even as a reference title. I also found it frustrating that it seemed to be a lot of singular facts, without much follow-through or additional proofs. I still have not figured out if the author was being cynical or truthful— I wanted to like this fact as neutral, but I’m afraid I primarily found it to be distracting.

Cursed Britain has some interesting historical information about witchcraft and the occult. The author does have some strange opinions about people in the medical field believing in certain areas of the occult.

I thought that this book was interesting. At times sit did seem a bit repetitive and at times I had trouble keeping my attention reading because of it.

'Cursed Britain' is a fascinating read that looks at the effects of 'black magic' in a wholly different and unexpected way. Waters focuses on the victims and historical accounts, tracking the way the effects and consequences of mahic have been recorded in England over time. The victims cover all ages, genders and classes, while the "perpetrators" are very frequently women but also occasionally men. Reading about the clash between the cultural belief in witchcraft and the legal standpoint that witchcraft did not exist was fascinating. I would definitely recomend Waters' book to anyone with a historical and archival interest in witchcraft.

Britain has a rich history of witchcraft and the occult. While most of the books we have focus on the sheer body counts stacked up during Britain’s witch trials, very few focus on the traditional folk magic, cunning folk, and quacks. In the new book Cursed Britain, Thomas Waters has seemingly endless examples of folks who claimed to suffer betwitchment from a long while back to the early 2000’s.

The book goes through witch trials, Scottish folk magic and lore, spiritualities from Africa and Asia, as well as charlatans who plied their trades to make a living. The book is fairly dense, but incredibly interesting. If you’re looking for a deep dive focusing on traditions, black magic, and fears related to curses and witchcraft in Britain, this book is a keeper.

Cursed Britain is now available from Yale University Press.

This was quite a dense book with a lot of information that sometimes felt a little repetitive. Charting a course for modern witchcraft from the Georgian period through to the present day, this is a very detailed and in-depth look at some of the ways in which witchcraft has waxed and waned in the public consciousness in Britain. Covering topics such as cunning folk, occultists, Roma, Obeah and exorcism, this could have been an incredibly fascinating book. For me however, in an effort to move away from sensationalism and into academic research, Waters has written what is, in effect, a pretty dry examination of the topic. However, the depth of the research is impressive and this is definitely an interesting book. For me, it is best enjoyed in short bursts, otherwise it does become repetitive. Overall, I would recommend this to anyone with a genuine interest in the history of witchcraft.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This proved to be a very good book about the last two centuries of witchery in Britain, if just missing the spark that made it perfect for the layman reader. In actual fact, however, it may also lack a little restraint needed for the academic audience, for I found it suddenly breaking away from its discursive yet chronological telling to discuss things like Irishmen throwing curses, or the language used to talk about witches and their craft across the Isles. It also throws itself at the subject of witches found in the old Empire, without taking time to say what they would have been doing. That said, larger sections, such as one on just why witches are thought of as haggard old women, prove the superlative work of research this volume is, and the more up-to-date pages where witchery and devilment is a stimulus for people to commit child abuse and murder are very sensitively handled. So this is still strongly authoritative, and well worth consideration if this subject is close to your interests. The casual browser can get through this comfortably, for it never gets stuffy (and the details about how very young the Tarot deck and wicca are will amaze many) but they may feel it a little too comprehensive.

Although detailed and highly researched, I couldn't handle the style and tone of the book. It offers a complete vission on how Witchcraft was perceived in Britain and how it evolved according to several sources, so it was the wrong choice for me, not that the author didn't had any serious knowledge on the matter. If you enjoy historical readings and descriptive, detailed and academic style, this is definitely for you.

Interesting subject, but middling execution. Too dry and tangential for a general audience, but too speculative and subjective for a scholarly audience either (also, Waters often falls into the trap of mentioning other scholars only to point out gaps in their work in order to elevate his own... except then he will detail/argue points that those he mentioned HAVE indeed already brought up.)

I really wanted to like this - i love the topic and history (self professed anglophile here). However it went in another direction and I found myself not being able to finish it.

A well researched text book on the cases of alleged witchcraft in history. It is great for those who want to further their knowledge of supernatural lore. Perfect for the library of people with an interest in occult history.

This had some interesting historical details, but it was also very dry at times. And, although anything from 1800 through today is technically the modern period, it felt a bit disingenuous to spend the vast majority of the book on the Victorian Era.

My main complaint about Cursed Britain is that it contained way too many references to curses and black magic being not only very real but also something we should watch out for. I know some people believe in this stuff, but the assertion that many highly educated people - along with those in the medical field - actually believe in black magic and curses in today's world is flat out absurd.

The historical tidbits show that people used to widely believe in curses, black magic, etc. The only evidence the author has for belief in today's world is his own misleading take on how common the fear of black magic is today. Studies show, however, that only 16% of Americans have any type of belief in actual curses. Meanwhile, 60 percent of British residents revealed in a recent survey that they strongly disbelieve in any type of magic, with the vast majority of the remaining 40% falling in the camp of those who disbelieve or are uncertain. In other words, the author's claims about today's society and magic/curses are factually inaccurate.

Excellent study into the magic, witches, witchcraft, tradition, prejudices, and culture of Great Britain. Fairy stones, bleeding, evil intent, cursed cows, milk that would not make butter, cunning folk and magicians, Great Britain had them all. Folklore, long time held prejudices and superstitions held long time holds on the peoples of the isle. Ireland, Scotland, and Britain along with various colonies held magic practice close to it's bosom. And just when it seemed like science would remove these old habits, magic came roaring back. People hold onto their occult beliefs and practices despite modern world progress. I love that this book explores the human experience of magic because despite our claims of rationality there are still parts of the human mind that cling to certain beliefs and fear of the unknown, we aren't so very different than our unknowing ancestors and despite progress there are parts of ourselves that cling to belief in occult forces.

A fascinating and well researched read, engrossing and well written.
I liked the style of writing and how the book is organized. I learned a lot and it was an interesting read.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.