Explore books about witchcraft in the UK and Ireland, including witch trials, accusations, folk magic, historical belief and supernatural tradition. The collection ranges from local histories to wider studies of witchcraft and its place in British and Irish culture.
77 books found
Cover unavailableThe Meaning of Witchcraft
The Meaning of Witchcraft presents Gerald Gardner’s account of witchcraft as a surviving religious tradition, drawing on his stated experiences as a practising witch. He discusses the witch cult in Britain, proposed Stone Age origins,…
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Cover unavailableThe Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft and Magic
The Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft and Magic traces changing ideas about magic and witchcraft from the ancient world to the 21st century. Edited by Owen Davies, it brings together chapters on ancient and medieval…
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Cover unavailableThe Paranormal Files
Cases that resist easy classification are the focus of this volume in Mike Covell’s investigation series. Subjects include witchcraft, superstition, psychic claims and the Satanic Panic, alongside an episode in which the River Hull changed…
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Cover unavailableThe Ruin of All Witches
The Ruin of All Witches reconstructs a witch-hunting episode in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1651, where illness, failing livestock, spoiled food and missing property fuel suspicion. Reports of fits, disturbing dreams, visions and children’s deaths deepen…
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Cover unavailableThe Snow Witch
A woman fleeing a traumatic past arrives in Portsmouth as an extraordinary snowstorm cuts the city off. Encounters with its residents offer the possibility of belonging, while an obsessive man threatens her precarious new life.…
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Cover unavailableThe Story of Witches: Folklore, History and Superstition
The Story of Witches traces changing ideas about witches through myth, legend, fairy tale, history and superstition. Willow Winsham begins with figures and motifs including Hekate, Baba Yaga, shape-shifting hares and the witches of Macbeth,…
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Cover unavailableThe Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft
The Triumph of the Moon traces the development of modern pagan witchcraft, examining how a religion that emerged in England drew upon older ideas about paganism, magic, folklore and ritual. Ronald Hutton places its formation…
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Cover unavailableThe Visions of Isobel Gowdie
Emma Wilby examines Isobel Gowdie’s 1662 confessions at Auldearn, placing one of Scotland’s most vivid witchcraft testimonies within its legal, religious and folkloric setting. The study asks how much of the recorded material reflects Gowdie’s…
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Cover unavailableThe Weird Tales of Dorothy K. Haynes
Dorothy K. Haynes’ Scottish supernatural fiction brings together cruel childhoods, fairy folklore and witchcraft. Edited by Craig Lamont, with a foreword by Johnny Mains, this British Library collection includes rare and previously unpublished stories, with…
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Cover unavailableThe Witch in History: Early Modern and Twentieth-Century Representations
Diane Purkiss examines how the figure of the witch has been interpreted from early modern England to the 20th century. The book considers the writing of witchcraft history, the myth of the ‘Burning Times’ and…
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Cover unavailableThe Witch-Cult in Western Europe
Margaret Murray’s 1921 study presents the theory that the people accused of witchcraft in Britain were members of an organised, pre-Christian religion. Rather than surveying every European tradition, it concentrates on British records and attempts…
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Cover unavailableThe Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present
Ronald Hutton traces beliefs about witchcraft from the ancient world through medieval Europe, the early modern witch trials and modern interpretations. Rather than treating the witch as a fixed figure, he examines how ideas about…
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The Witches of St Osyth: Persecution, Murder and Betrayal in Elizabethan England
Marion Gibson reconstructs the witchcraft accusations that divided St Osyth and neighbouring Essex communities in 1581–82. Sixteen women and one man were accused of sorcery, while Ursley Kempe and Elizabeth Bennett were taken to Chelmsford…
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Cover unavailableWitch Hunters
Witch Hunters examines the people who claimed to identify, investigate and expose witches during the Renaissance and the great witch-hunting era. P. G. Maxwell-Stuart follows the careers and methods of figures including the Jesuit Martin…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft
Witchcraft traces changing ideas about witches from the remnants of early religious beliefs through Christian reinterpretation, deliberate diabolism and accusations dismissed by Hughes as cruel nonsense. The book considers how magical practices and beliefs developed,…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland
John Gregorson Campbell records Highland and Island traditions concerning witchcraft, charms, second sight and warnings of death. The collection includes stories of witches affecting milk, raising storms, causing drownings and taking the forms of animals…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft and Folk Belief in the Age of Enlightenment: Scotland, 1670–1740
Lizanne Henderson examines Scottish witchcraft and witch belief from 1670 to 1740, a period often associated with the decline of prosecutions and the emergence of the Scottish Enlightenment. Rather than treating the end of the…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft Continued: Popular Magic in Modern Europe
Witchcraft Continued examines the persistence of witchcraft beliefs and popular magic in Europe after the decline of the formal witch trials. Edited essays cover England, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Finland, Transylvania and Northern…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft in England
Christina Hole’s illustrated history surveys English beliefs and practices associated with witchcraft, from ancient rites and sorcery to later forms of popular magic. Its subjects include maleficium, familiars, methods used to identify suspected witches, alleged…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft in the Thames Valley
Witchcraft in the Thames Valley gathers traditional witchcraft tales associated with the Thames Valley, presenting local stories where folklore, reported marvels and historical memory overlap. Tony Barham’s short regional study centres on traditions attached to…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft in Wales
Witchcraft in Wales gathers Welsh traditions concerning witches, curses, magical practices and feared supernatural influence. Its material derives from the folklore collected by Elias Owen, whose investigations preserved stories and beliefs gathered from older inhabitants,…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft Today
Witchcraft Today presents Gerald Gardner’s account of witchcraft as a living religion, based on his claims to have encountered practising covens in England. He describes beliefs, ritual practices, initiation and meetings, while considering the roles…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft, Magic and Culture 1736–1951
Owen Davies examines witchcraft and magic in England and Wales after the 1736 Witchcraft Act, tracing how older beliefs survived alongside growing scepticism. The book considers educated attitudes, popular justice and the changing image of…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft: A History
Witchcraft: A History traces changing ideas about magic and witchcraft from ancient Greece and Rome through medieval demonology, early modern prosecutions and twentieth-century paganism. P. G. Maxwell-Stuart shows how the meaning of witchcraft shifted across…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials
Marion Gibson traces the changing meaning of witchcraft through 13 trials, spanning the 15th century to the present day. The book moves from the origins of European witch-hunts to cases in America and Africa, placing…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft: The Basics
Witchcraft: The Basics examines how witchcraft was defined, debated and represented from the Middle Ages to the modern world. Marion Gibson considers the language used to describe witches, the laws and treatises directed against them,…
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Witches: A King’s Obsession
Steven Veerapen traces witchcraft accusations and witch-hunting from the reign of King James VI and I. He examines how beliefs about demonic magic shaped investigations, trials and punishment. The history considers Britain alongside continental Europe,…
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Cover unavailableWitchfinders: A Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy
Malcolm Gaskill reconstructs the English witch-hunt of 1645–47, when civil-war upheaval, disease, poverty and religious division intensified fears of hidden evil. The book centres on Matthew Hopkins and John Stearne, two men who began investigating…
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Cover unavailableWizards
Wizards traces the changing figure of the wizard from the ancient world to the present, asking what people have meant by the term across different periods. P G Maxwell-Stuart distinguishes the wizard from the simple…
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