AuthorLois Martin
NarratorBrogan West
Duration3h 32m
CategoriesAdult Non-Fiction, History
PublisherPocket Essentials
VersionUnabridged
Witchcraft has recently been undergoing a huge popular revival, but does modern pagan witchcraft really bear any resemblance to its historical antecedents? The witch in history was a very different creature from her modern counterpart, and this book sets out to explore the historical background to the European witchcraft phenomenon. It examines in detail the growth of the ideological, cultural and legal concepts that eventually led to the carnage of the Witch Craze in the 16th and 17th centuries, which, it is estimated, may have claimed the lives of around 40,000 people. For both Medieval and Reformation scholars alike the Devil and all his works were a very real threat. Their conviction that witches were the servants of Satan led to the formation of perhaps one of the greatest conspiracy theories of all time: a belief that witches were working in league with the Devil in a diabolical plot against all Christendom. Witches were transformed from poor deluded old women who rode out at night with the pagan goddess Diana into devil-worshipping heretics who became the focus of a centuries-long, Europe-wide campaign determined to seek out and destroy this evil wherever it was to be found, regardless of whether any of its victims were actually guilty or not.
Author: Catherine Bailey
Author Catherine Bailey
Narrator Laura Kirman
Duration 15h 27m
Brought to you by Penguin. Berlin, September 1944. Ulrich von Hassell, former ambassador to Italy and a key member of the German Resistance, is executed for his part in an assassination plot against Hitler. In response to the attack, Himmler, leader of the SS, orders the arrest of all the families of the plotters. In a remote castle in Italy, von H...
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Author: Virginia Nicholson
Author Virginia Nicholson
Narrator Various
Duration 19h 59m
The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Virginia Nicholson's Millions Like Us: Women's Lives in the Second World War. A special multi-voice recording featuring five actresses that bring to life the hundreds of personal testimonies, diary entries and books that make up this superb study. Read by Patience Tomlinson, Annie Aldington, Rachel...
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Theodore Roosevelt For the Defense
Author: Dan Abrams
Author Dan Abrams
Narrator Dan Abrams
Duration 12h 4m
"No more dramatic courtroom scene has ever been enacted," reported the Syracuse Herald on May 22, 1915 as it covered "the greatest libel suit in history," a battle fought between former President Theodore Roosevelt and the leader of the Republican party. Roosevelt , the boisterous and mostly beloved legendary American hero, had accused his former f...
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Author: Robert Harris
Author Robert Harris
Narrator David Rintoul
Duration 12h 54m
Random House presents the audiobook edition of Selling Hitler by Robert Harris, read by David Rintoul. Spring 1983: it seemed that one of the most startling discoveries of the century had been made, and that one of the world's most sought after documents had finally come to light - the private diaries of Adolf Hitler.What followed was a fiasco of...
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Author: Rick Atkinson
Author Rick Atkinson
Narrator Jason Culp
Duration 3h 43m
Adapted for young readers from the #1 New York Times-bestselling The Guns at Last Light, D-Day captures the events and the spirit of that day-June 6, 1944-the day that led to the liberation of western Europe from Nazi Germany's control. They came by sea and by sky to reclaim freedom from the occupying Germans, turning the tide of World War II. Atki...
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Summary of Alexander Hamilton By Ron Chernow
Author: Publishing Readtrepeneur
Author Publishing Readtrepeneur
Narrator Peter Prova
Duration 1h
Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book but an unofficial summary. Alexander Hamilton was a man that came from nothing, but changed the world over the years. From an immigrant to an influential and significant figure in American history, he shaped the newborn America and gave it the order andprosperity it has today. Nobody has done a better jo...
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Author: Lee Child
Author Lee Child
Narrator Jeff Harding
Duration 1h 18m
In his first work of nonfiction, the creator of the multimillion-selling Jack Reacher series explores the endurance of heroes from Achilles to Bond, showing us how this age-old myth is a fundamental part of what makes us human. He demonstrates how hero stories continue to shape our world - arguing that we need them now more than ever. From the Ston...
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Author: Emma Dabiri
Author Emma Dabiri
Narrator Emma Dabiri
Duration 7h 43m
Straightened. Stigmatised. 'Tamed'. Celebrated. Erased. Managed. Appropriated. Forever misunderstood. Black hair is never 'just hair'. This book is about why black hair matters and how it can be viewed as a blueprint for decolonisation. Emma Dabiri takes us from pre-colonial Africa, through the Harlem Renaissance, Black Power and on to today's Natu...
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Summary of Grant By Ron Chernow
Author: Abbey Beathan
Author Abbey Beathan
Narrator Peter Prova
Duration 2h 55m
Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book. The life and work of the magnificent general and President Ulysses Grant. Ulysses Grant must be one of the most misunderstood characters of United States' history. The majority of people have a polarized but incorrect impression of him as a loser and a bad businessman or as the triumphant but vicious gener...
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Author: David George Haskell
Author David George Haskell
Narrator The Author, Cassandra Campbell
Duration 10h 26m
David Haskell's award-winning The Forest Unseen won acclaim for eloquent writing and deep engagement with the natural world. Now, Haskell brings his powers of observation to the biological networks that surround all species, including humans. Haskell repeatedly visits a dozen trees around the world, exploring the trees' connections with webs of fun...
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Anonymous 7 Jan 2026
A Useful But Limited Overview Of A Complex Subject
I have some knowledge of this area of study but my knowledge is dated and I wanted to quickly up-date myself on more recent approaches to this topic. This book did not, in fact, add much to my knowledge so it is not innovative but rather a retrospective on the broad trend of research in recent decades. This book is not written for scholars but for those with no prior knowledge who want a quick introduction to the study of European (and European colonial i.e. Massachusetts) witchcraft, primarily in the Late Medieval and Early Modern eras. It is a competent 'beginner's guide' but, being a short book, thin on detail or analysis. It will leave you either indifferent so you lose interest in this topic or wanting to know more to fill up the gaps in your understanding and you will need to look elsewhere for in-depth studies which you may find hard to do if you do not have a university or similar institutional support to give you acess to monographs and research papers. It is thus a 'turnstile' book pushing its readers/listeners one way or another. The book presents no agenda specific to the author but rather represents the consensus view shared by most people who have expert knowledge of this field. As a helicopter-view of the topic, it identifies what mainstream scholars might agree are the main subject headings, the main characters, the broad strokes of opposing views on this or that aspect of what all this history means, to whom it matters, why it might matter to you and me in the C21st. This helps the reader/listener identify specific areas of interest they might like to follow-up (if they can). This treatment of the subject becomes controversial only in contrast to alternative histories developed by outliers with unique scholarly perspectives (the new ideas I was actually looking for and did not find in this book) or to 'invested' non-scholars e.g. faith communities such as Wiccans with their own views on the story of witches but the author largely avoids polemics, a choice I commend. The content includes gory descriptions of torture and gross miscarriages of justice which would disturb any healthy mind so this is not a book I would recommend to non-adults or those with vulnerabilities so be advised.
The reader of the book has a charming English regional accent I could not identify. I am Northumbrian, his accent was 'southern' to me - maybe Yorkshire or Midlands but not Home Counties. He spoke very clearly, at a comfortable pace, with an engaging tone. He had his own unique way of pronouncing certain words and names which confused me at first, then amused me, and it added charm to the reading - as he was attempting Hebrew, Latin, Arabic and several pre-modern European languages he could not be faulted for not knowing exactly how to pronounce this or that obscure name or technical term especially if he was not a specialist in the field which I assumed he was not. He also created characterisations when reading quotes, giving us his interpretation of how a monk or judge or witch might speak their words. This was fun too and added to my enjoyment of the book and made those parts of the book more memorable so it was not a self-indulgence by the reader but actively helped me, the listener. One aspect of the audiobook I disliked was the random introduction of 'pop music' as a kind of interval in the performance - something apparently created by a bot or AI with no human skill or taste or feeling - the sort of 'music while you hold' I recall from the 1980s. Bouncing from scenes of witch trials in Germany to 'easy listening muzak' then back to tales of human misery was bizarre and not very helpful to my ability to stay focused on the topic.
In summary, a good beginner's book for adults, worth a read/listen, wont answer all your questions about this particular kind of witch, unique to this time and place, but might inspire you to do more research. Not often polemical but might offend some readers with strong opinions on this subject that differ from the author's 'mainstream' views. Be aware some graphic descriptions of violence may be distressing to readers/listeners. Enjoyable reader added to the audiobook experience and made certain details more memorable through his sense of drama and (the rare times it was appropriate) humour. Random interruptions of weird pop music added nothing beneficial.