Witchcraft: The Basics

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For some, witchcraft is a metaphor for empowerment; for some, a religion; for others, a terrible ongoing threat. Witchcraft: The Basics is an accessible and engaging to the scholarly study of witchcraft which explores the phenomenon of witchcraft from its earliest definitions in the Middle Ages, to the fifteenth- century orthodoxy of Malleus Maleficarum before examining the resonances of witchcraft in the modern world. Using key case studies to analyse the roles of culture, religion, gender politics, social hierarchy, generational differences and the role of governance in the enduring role of witchcraft throughout history.