Customer Reviews

A brilliant book on a disturbed era of English history! - By: Iceni Peasant, 30 Sep 2005
Having a large interestin the local history of East Anglia I immediately became absorbed into this book. The writing style is a perfect balance of facts, quotes, political background informationin relation to the Civil War, religious views of the times & objective research by the author, making this a joy to read. The pages turned a lot faster than normal for a book setin this era!

The book follows the rise AND fall of the famous Witchfinders, Matthew Hopkins & John Stearne from their large scale witch huntsin the 1640's. Startingin their local area of Manningtreein Essex & spreading, like the contempory & proverbial plague, through into Suffolk, Norfolk, Huntinghdonshire & Cambridgeshire & further, with ultimate influence on the witch huntsin America.

The personal details of the witchfinders characters & views along with their methods of finding witches is just compelling reading. Most of the time the reader will feel many emotions, from suprise & incredulity at the so-called confessions of witches to utter disbelief & revulsion at how people such as judges & jurors sentenced these confused & often poor women AND men for execution from such peculiar methods of proof from the witchfinders.

The book concludes, telling of how the two main witchfinders ended their days, & what legacy they left behindin society. With a neat little conclusion on how far humanity has come & that some countries still use witch hunts.
An excellent read! 5 Stars!