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lena_x777x's review against another edition
A better title would have been „an introduction to the history of witchcraft#
This book is a summary of the history of witchcraft with witch hunts and trials.
It got nothing to do with modern witchcraft or spirituality.
I dnf bc my expectations were completely different.
This book is a summary of the history of witchcraft with witch hunts and trials.
It got nothing to do with modern witchcraft or spirituality.
I dnf bc my expectations were completely different.
leosmile's review against another edition
3.5
Pretty interesting, maybe a bit more of a history of witchcraft than an introduction to specificities of witchcraft and the belief of it. It was an interesting sociology study that criticised the way that we rationally percieve witch belief, while ignoring more subjective and possibly meaningful interpretations. Dipped a little bit into yung archetypes and shadow stuff which was fun and maybe its most convincing. Overall I do feel more knowledgeable on the general topic, but I feel like there is a better version of this book out there. (Also often my issue with nonfiction books is they could really just be an article if they're only making like 2-3 major points, and I felt this with this book. I know it's emphasising points or backing them up in detail or whatever but just :/ )
preciousmist's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
2.75
Informative, but you can tell the author is REALLY not impartial overall - a consequence of analysing belief in an academic essay, perhaps? Lowered my enjoyment of the book. Text focuses on US and UK cases the most, with references to other European cases here and there, and cases in the continent of Africa mostly brought up to showcase the horror of being perceived as a witch, an optic that could be problematic, maybe. The geographical scope makes me wish the book was titled in a different way. For anything else, I have no grounds to stand on. A sufficiently satisfying book.
outcolder's review against another edition
3.0
Heartbreaking. I wanted more details about what witches supposedly did, like turn into cats or kiss goat's buttholes, but Gaskill is mostly about debunking Romantik conceptions and correcting estimates of executions. There were enough nuggets of interest to keep me going, and as always with the VSI series, the recommended further reading is a treasure.
annashiv's review against another edition
4.0
A great introduction if you don't know anything about Witchcraft. It was a little confusing at times, but uses good fact based ideas and was really interesting at the end. Not a lot added to the theory of witchcraft, but more just explaining where it comes from and how we react towards it sort of stuff. I recommend it to anyone looking for a slice of knowledge concerning witches through history.
drskaninchen's review against another edition
2.0
'Witchcraft: A Very Short Introduction' isn't a good title for this book. A better title would be 'A history of Witchcraft in Europe and the United States: A Very Short Introduction'. After reading the wonderful 'The wizard of the Crow' by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o I hoped to learn more about the role and history of witchcraft in African societies as well as witchcraft in the rest of the world. I didn't get that with this book.
What I didn't get either was an author who tried to be as subjective as possible. Malcolm Gaskill clearly doesn't believe in witches and disagrees with a number of historical theories. People who believe in witches are put away as reflecting their negative emotions, As a fellow non-believer in witches I find this really disrespectful.
What I didn't get either was an author who tried to be as subjective as possible. Malcolm Gaskill clearly doesn't believe in witches and disagrees with a number of historical theories. People who believe in witches are put away as reflecting their negative emotions, As a fellow non-believer in witches I find this really disrespectful.