Owen had no academic position while writing a good portion of the book, so he had to slip into university libraries and gather his information surreptitiously not quite midnight beneath the gallows, but still a suitable practice for the subject matter. His goal is to spark serious scholarship on magic and witchcraft in England and Wales after the witch trials and to review recent studies that apply new theories and techniques. He discusses educated attitudes towards the popular belief, popular justice, popular literature, the witch, occult practitioners, and the declining belief. He does not cover the Occult Revival of the second half of the 19th century the Golden Dawn and all because other scholars have done so and continue their studies. US distribution is by St. Martin's Press. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Most studies of witchcraft and magic have been concerned with the era of the witch trials, a period that officially came to an end in Britain with the passing of the Witchcraft Act of 1736. But the majority of people continued to fear witches and put their faith in magic. Owen Davies here traces the history of witchcraft and magic from 1736 to 1951, when the passing of the Fraudulent Mediums Act finally erased the concept of witchcraft from the statute books. This original study examines the extent to which witchcraft, magic and fortune-telling continued to influence the thoughts and actions of the people of England and Wales in a period when the forces of "progress" are often thought to have vanquished such beliefs.
