Why read The Devil in the Shape of a Woman?

Book cover of The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England

Book description

Confessing to "familiarity with the devils," Mary Johnson, a servant, was executed by Connecticut officials in 1648. A wealthy Boston widow, Ann Hibbens was hanged in 1656 for casting spells on her neighbors. The case of Ann Cole, who was "taken with very strange Fits," fueled an outbreak of witchcraft…

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American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Devil in the Shape of a Woman as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Malcolm Gaskill

Author

A ground-breaking work, which demonstrates how the theoretical witch was embodied by real women, and how a seemingly bizarre fantasy was plausible in among the shapes and rhythms of daily life. This influential study is as much a social, economic and cultural history of seventeenth-century New England as it is strictly speaking a history of witchcraft – indeed, Karlsen demonstrates clearly that the latter cannot be assimilated with an appreciation of the former. Context is everything, and without it we just fall back on stereotypes and tired assumptions.

Witches and neighbours were two-sides of the same coin, the former a…

From Malcolm's list on The best books on witch hunting in Colonial America.