{"title":"Books by Marion Gibson","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781108494670","title":"The Witches of St Osyth","description":"An emotive, haunting story of a community torn apart, the Essex witch accusations and trial of 1581-2 are, taken together, one of the pivotal instances of that malign and destructive wave of misogynistic persecution which periodically broke over early modern England. Yet, for all their importance in the overall study of witchcraft, the so-called witches of St Osyth have largely been overlooked by scholars. Marion Gibson now sets right that neglect. Using fresh archival sources – and investigating not just the village itself, but also its neighbouring Elizabethan hamlets and habitations – the author offers revelatory new insights into the sixteen women and one man accused of sorcery while asking wider, provocative questions about the way history is recollected and interpreted. Combining landscape detective work, a reconstruction of lost spaces and authoritative readings of crucial documents, Gibson skilfully unlocks the poignant personal histories of those denied the chance to speak for themselves.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56296200405365,"sku":"9781108494670","price":33.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781108494670_4d617eac-9334-4b30-9b05-8f280a9494bc.jpg?v=1786018708"},{"product_id":"9781138779976","title":"Witchcraft","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWitchcraft: The Basics\u003c\/em\u003e is an engaging introduction to the scholarly study of witchcraft. It explores the phenomenon of witchcraft from its earliest definitions in the Middle Ages through to the modern day, and uses case studies to analyse the roles of culture, religion, gender, social hierarchy, governance and more in witchcraft throughout history.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56297532981621,"sku":"9781138779976","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781138779976_4d965f0d-9288-4346-b90a-c9c7ecb31168.jpg?v=1786018416"},{"product_id":"9781398508538","title":"Witchcraft","description":"'These stories of witchcraft, \u003cb\u003etrue and vividly told\u003c\/b\u003e, demonstrate the potent reality of belief in evil and how in any era or place fear can be weaponised and marginal people, mostly women, labelled as wicked and dangerous. Together they comprise\u003cb\u003e not just a history of witchcraft but a cautionary tale\u003c\/b\u003e’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMalcolm Gaskill, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Ruin of All Witches\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e 'Thought-provoking and timely... Searing'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJessie Childs, \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eWitchcraft,\u003c\/i\u003e  Professor Marion Gibson uses thirteen significant trials to tell the\u003cb\u003e global history\u003c\/b\u003e of witchcraft and witch-hunts. As well as exploring the origins of witch-hunts through some of the \u003cb\u003emost famous trials\u003c\/b\u003e from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century, it takes us in new and surprising directions.\u003cb\u003eThree women were prosecuted under a version of the 1735 Witchcraft Act as recently as 2018.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Professor Gibson also tells\u003cb\u003e the stories of the ‘witches\u003c\/b\u003e’ – mostly women like Helena Scheuberin, Anny Sampson and Joan Wright, \u003cb\u003ewhose stories have too often been overshadowed by those of the powerful men, such as King James I and ‘Witchfinder General’ Matthew Hopkins, who hounded them.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Once a tool invented by demonologists to hurt and silence their enemies, witch trials have been twisted and transformed over the course of history and the lines between witch and witch-hunter blurred. \u003cb\u003eFor the fortunate, a witch-hunt is just a metaphor, but, as this book makes clear, witches are truly still on trial.  \u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56312253874549,"sku":"9781398508538","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781398508538_19f3685e-74af-4532-be6e-bba548e6bace.jpg?v=1786018809"},{"product_id":"9781398545144","title":"Witchland","description":"\u003cp\u003e‘Terrifying, compulsive, wonderful’ Daily Mail, Book of the Week ‘An immensely knowledgeable and engaging guide’ The Times\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A remarkable feat of scholarship and empathy’ Shelley Puhak, author of The Blood Countess\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Astounding . . . a tour-de-force of archival research’ Publishers Weekly\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'As close to an eye-witness view of [British witch trials] as we are likely to get' Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch*\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf the witchfinders came to your town, who would you have believed – and what would you have done?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the 1640s, Britain was swept up in a brutal witch hunt. The economic uncertainty and religious extremism fuelled by the English Civil War created a climate of fear. Neighbours turned on each other. Women and the poor were especially vulnerable, scapegoated by the powerful looking for someone to blame. In the resulting hysteria – which would, just a few decades later, provide a handbook for the Salem trials – hundreds of innocent people were killed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMoving from village to village in Scotland and England, Professor Marion Gibson reveals how accusations grew out of everyday tensions – poverty, grief, and resentment – and how entire communities took part in persecuting the vulnerable. Drawing on newly uncovered historical records, this gripping account restores the voices of those accused of witchcraft. Vivid and intimate, Witchland shows that these were ordinary people with extraordinary stories, largely forgotten by history, caught up in suspicion and moral panic.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWitchland is a captivating story of fanaticism, inequality and the violence that surfaces during times of political upheaval.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56368764289397,"sku":"9781398545144","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781398545144_779fb90c-33ab-4eb3-8d5a-da5eb0a5b3ea.jpg?v=1786019187"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-marion-gibson.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}