Europe's Inner Demons

Sep 21, 2024 7:12 PM

Author:Norman Cohn

In this ground-breaking book, Professor Norman Cohn traces popular beliefs about witches to their origins. He examines the fantasies that inspired the great European witch-hunt of the 16th and 17th centuries when thousands of innocent people were tortured and burned alive. It is a fascinating history of the need to imagine antihuman conspiracies and an investigation of how those fantasies made the great European witch-hunt possible. In addition, Professor Cohn's discovery that some influential sources on witch trials were forgeries has revolutionized the field of witchcraft studies, making this one of the most essential books ever written on the subject.

Reviews

It is not too much to say that Professor Cohn has revolutionised the study of the subject - It is a brilliant book.

—— Bernard Levin , Observer

An indispensable study.

—— Robin Lane Fox , Financial Times

This is a book of real stature which I hope will have a side impact. Only if we begin to understand the horrifying recesses of the human imagination can we prevent the recurrences of those dreadful, irrational persecutions which have so disfigured human history.

—— Anthony Storr

Required reading... laced with gentle humour and great affection

—— Sunday Telegraph

Truly wonderful...not only a deeply moving and inspiring account of a friendship but also an enthralling insight into a vanishing world

—— Mick Brown, author of The Spiritual Tourist

Claire Scobie's refreshing book shows how people can see their lives differently

—— Xinran, author of Sky Burial

An intimate and moving account of a way of life that is fast disappearing

—— Monica Ali, author of Brick Lane

Claire Scobie brings a great eye and a great heart to this wonderful story of place, friendship and spirituality. It's an inner journey as well as an outer one, but the detail, subtlety and surprises of the outer journey make her experiences of Tibet utterly compelling

—— Stephanie Dowrick, author of Choosing Happiness

John Gray, the counter-prophet who scorns all claims that humans can transcend the human condition ... You don't have to agree with Gray to enjoy the fireworks

—— Marek Kohn , Independent

Elegant ... He is on to something important regarding the delusion that science consists of indefinite progress

—— Sunday Telegraph

Gray is an engaging writer, an entertaining historian and a controversialist whose opinions can never be taken for granted

—— New Statesman

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