I'm afraid I can't give a positive review for this one. It's a good thing I read Ronald Hutton and Radcliffe Edmonds III's books in 2023 as I fact-checked each chapter. The narrative is disjointed and general statements aren't expanded upon with little transition. At one point it jumps from Anne Boleyn to Mickey Mouse to Rome in one page. There are just too many detours. Carradice also frequently uses the words "most" "many" or "some" in their descriptions, avoiding any specifics and more than a few statistics need citation. For example, they describe the witch's familiar as "becoming an accepted fact" in the Early Medieval Period. By whom? And how? Familiars do not exist in French, German or Slavic witch lore, only in Britain. Writing in "the Devil's book" is also a strictly British phenomenon. Those are the kind of rudimentary facts that proper research provides. Otherwise it's just misinformation. The witch hunts themselves aren't mentioned until you're about halfway through, but Carradice diverges to royal witches instead. It's ok to mention nobility, but dedicating several pages to bios doesn't exactly represent the full impact of European witch crazes on the general public. Here they recite heavily from Tracy Borman's and Gemma Holman's books.

Carradice also has a fundamental misunderstanding of what magic and witchcraft are. From an anthropological and historical perspective, not all magic / ritualistic practice is witchcraft, and not all who practice magic are witches. Shamans, Healers, Sorcerers, Alchemists and Temple Priest/Priestesses are separate titles and do not function in the same way. Any pagan religion can be called witchcraft if one removes it from its proper context. To broadly simplify Chinese ancestral worship, Japanese Shintoism, Greek oracles and Egyptian calendar rituals in a book on "witchcraft" is a terrible disservice. I'm afraid I can't recommend this one when there are better sources out there.

DNF: The author was too repetitive and going around in circles without going to the point. I couldn't understand where he was going to with his descriptions, even though his proposal of writing it as a form of story and not history made excited me.

Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
This a good book if you haven't read anything about witches in history. Or just if you are interested in the "history" of witches, in our world.
The contents of the books were really interesting, although sometimes it became a bit monotonous and slower to read

"Witch Hunt." We here that word more these days than in the past. But what does it really mean? What causes the paranoia that makes inquisitions into one's neighbors and friends run rampant? This book explores the origins of witch hunts and how they're still used to install fear into the public. Anyone who's interested in history and especially history of witchcraft won't want to miss this.

This a good book if you never read anything about witches in history and how different civilization approached it.
Some parts are quite interesting, other are not so much interesting.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Such a treasure of a book. I absolutely love taking a look at the darker side of history, and Witches and Witch Hunts Through the Ages really does that. Can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book ahead of time in exchange for a review. You should read it!

When someone hears witches - most automatically think of the famous trials that happened in Salem Massachussetts. However, there is more to witches and witch hunts than that - and they go further back than one might actually realize. From ancient to more medival and into a modern setting - the author brings to the forefront the different fears which have borne the witchhunt craze.

This was a fantastic read, and full of great information. I had heard of some, but not all of the pieces that were presented within this book. There is a lot of information to unpack, but it also allows those who are looking to delve deeper into some aspects, to do so.

Pretty good and engaging.

Witches and witch hunts through the ages by Phil Carradice it’s a great book about witches from ancient times to modern day. Although Mr.Carradice hits all the highlights he even had things that’s surprised this amateur historian. Usually books that or well-known subjects to me or just wash rinse and repeat but the author does his due diligence to explain from the things they were blamed for like the plague bad crops to signs your neighbor may be a witch The invention of good witches Hollywoods popular films and shows about them to overall modern day acceptance of the practice he really hits it from all sides and covers every bass in this great expanse of book about witches witchhunts and ultimately how they became an OK thing to be. I love history and Pen and Sword History has become my go to whenever something tickles my fancy, I really find their book so good and rarely give their books less than five stars this one included this is a great read and another awesome book from the publisher. I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for my free arc copy. Please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

One word FASCINATING !! I devoured this and learnt so so much that I am joining a white witch coven to develop what i have learnt

THANK U THANK U THANK UTHANK UTHANK UTHANK UTHANK UTHANK UTHANK Ux

A broad and sweeping look at how witchcraft and witches themselves have been viewed throughout history. A good starting point from which to dive deeper into a particular era of interest.

Witches and Witch Hunts Through the Ages covers quite a broad spectrum of topics from Witches in the Ancient World all the way up to Modern Day interpretations.

There were some interesting topics such as Arthurian legend in regards to Merlin and Morgan La Fey who I had actually never heard of and some very brief mentions of Greek Gods and Goddesses in regards to magic.

I feel in some places the book dragged (especially to do with the Romans) with some information not being very engaging and quite a bit of the book listing people and giving a summary on how they fit into the narrative of the accused, the accuser or the witch hunter.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me and arc.

I think the author did a good job of distilling an overview of witches and how they have been viewed in society throughout the ages. The chapter on Greeks and Romans had some interesting insights, tying works of Greek literature such as The Iliad and The Odyssey to figures like Circe. There's also an interesting chapter on Morgan Le Fay and Merlin that discusses where most of people's perceptions of Morgan or Morgana come from, through the Arthurian lens and things like Le Morte D'Arthur, chivalric romances, and more. Readers who are well-versed in these areas are not going to find anything new that they didn't already know. For this reason, I think that a better audience for this book is someone who is just looking for an A-Z compendium that isn't too long or too much of a chore to read through, which summarizes the sort of highlights of witches or witch legends throughout history. One of the book's strengths is the discussion of the Middle Ages and the kinds of charges brought against women, or how they would come to be accused of witchcraft. And I mean, no book that talks about witch hunts in history would be complete without a discussion of the Salem Witch Trails, so there's a short chapter on that. The section on witch hunts in the modern day, such as townspeople in parts of the Congo who have accused women of witchcraft, or in parts of the United States, including Texas, is an interesting discussion. My major complaint is that the book focuses almost exclusively on white figures, characters, and white women. It would be much more refreshing to have authors produce works on witches and witch hunts against women from specific countries in the Middle East, or in Africa, or in the French Caribbean between the 17th and 19th centuries.

Thank you to the Author, publishers and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

A great read and an insightful account of the history of witches and the infamous witch hunts. The author exhibits remarkable knowledge on the subject and presents the content in a highly engaging style, which brings to life the stories of witches and their trials.

However, there were a few instances where the book felt slightly repetitive, and the excessive references to Arthur Miller's The Crucible were not to my liking. It would have been great to have delved deeper into the male attitudes towards women and the societal changes that eventually led to women becoming the primary target of witch hunters.

What truly stood out for me was the author's repeated mentions of Wales throughout the text, which is often overlooked in such historical accounts.

All in all, this book is a thoroughly enjoyable read that provides valuable insights into the history of witchcraft and the witch hunts.

"Witches and Witch Hunts Through the Ages" by Phil Carradice offers a comprehensive exploration into the dark and fascinating history of witchcraft and the associated persecution spanning centuries. Carradice skillfully navigates through the intricate web of beliefs, fears, and societal structures that fueled witch hunts across different cultures and epochs. With meticulous research and engaging prose, he delves into the cultural, religious, and political contexts that shaped perceptions of witchcraft, shedding light on the lives of those accused and the often tragic outcomes they faced. Carradice's narrative is both enlightening and sobering, offering valuable insights into humanity's enduring fascination with the supernatural and the enduring consequences of mass hysteria. This book is an essential read for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of witch hunts throughout history.

This was a fantastic read, it had everything that I was looking for about witches and the witch hunts in the history. Phil Carradice has a great writing style and worked with everything that I wanted. It had that history element that I was looking for and thought it was a strong read.

This book is a well put together history of witches and witch hunts through history. It seems very well thought out and researched and when reading, I appreciated the level of detail and how the author pulls everything together. Well done! This book is essential reading for anyone interested in witches and persecution over time and how those things came about in modern culture and society.

This account explores the history of witchcraft, from its ancient origins to modern-day persecutions. Highlighting the often-overlooked wise women and men who used spells and potions for good, it also delves into the horrific witch hunts of the late medieval period and the social factors that fuel these practices.

I found this book to be a satisfying, engaging, and easy-to-read analysis of how human cultures respond to the unexplained, from healing practices to religious beliefs. The book does more than recount the history and the tragedy of past events—it also explores the complexity of human interactions and shows how modern society isn’t immune to these practices.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This was a really good non fiction book, although it got a bit repetitive, I'm not sure that could have been avoided given the subject matter

I really enjoyed learning about the history of witches and witch hunters, as someone who loves reading about the fictional witches it is also nice to learn about the actual people who practice paganism or wicca and those who were accused of witchcraft.
I would recommend this book to those who are interested in history and/or those interested in witches.