{"product_id":"the-last-witches-of-england-a-tragedy-of-sorcery-and-superstition-paperback","title":"The Last Witches of England: A Tragedy of Sorcery and Superstition - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJohn Callow\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Fascinating and vivid.\" \u003ci\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Thoroughly researched.\" \u003ci\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Intriguing.\" \u003ci\u003eBBC History Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Vividly told.\" \u003ci\u003eBBC History Revealed\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A timely warning against persecution.\" \u003ci\u003eMorning Star\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Astute and thoughtful.\" \u003ci\u003eHistory Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An important work.\"\u003ci\u003e All About History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well-researched.\"\u003ci\u003e The Tablet\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the morning of Thursday 29 June 1682, a magpie came rasping, rapping and tapping at the window of a prosperous Devon merchant. Frightened by its appearance, his servants and members of his family had, within a matter of hours, convinced themselves that the bird was an emissary of the devil sent by witches to destroy the fabric of their lives. As the result of these allegations, three women of Bideford came to be forever defined as witches. A Secretary of State brushed aside their case and condemned them to the gallows; to hang as the last group of women to be executed in England for the crime. Yet, the hatred of their neighbours endured. For Bideford, it was said, was a place of witches. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThough 'pretty much worn away' the belief in witchcraft still lingered on for more than a century after their deaths. In turn, ignored, reviled, and extinguished but never more than half-forgotten, it seems that the memory of these three women - and of their deeds and sufferings, both real and imagined - was transformed from canker to regret, and from regret into celebration in our own age. Indeed, their example was cited during the final Parliamentary debates, in 1951, that saw the last of the witchcraft acts repealed, and their names were chanted, as both inspiration and incantation, by the women beyond the wire at Greenham Common. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this book, John Callow explores this remarkable reversal of fate, and the remarkable tale of the Bideford Witches.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohn Callow is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Suffolk, UK, who has written widely on early modern witchcraft, politics and popular culture. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Making of King James II \u003c\/i\u003e(2000) and \u003ci\u003eEmbracing the Darkness \u003c\/i\u003e(2005, I.B. Tauris). He has appeared on the BBC Radio 4 documentary \u003ci\u003eIt Must be Witchcraft\u003c\/i\u003e, and the series on the Salem Witches on the Discovery Channel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 352\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 8.9 x 6.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 07, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51765116469536,"sku":"9781350387126","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/b4d75467d1e9c00be3a5c0d77c9b2e38.webp?v=1780262352","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-last-witches-of-england-a-tragedy-of-sorcery-and-superstition-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}