CART: 0 item(s) $0.00Magic and Superstition in Europe: A Concise History from Antiquity to the Present
Series: Critical Issues in World and International History
| By Michael D. Bailey |
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Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. | |||||||||||||||||
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"An ambitious survey of the history of magic from the ancient world to the modern West. The broad scope of the book gives readers a useful comparative perspective on how different Western societies viewed and categorized magic and superstition, and how magical traditions changed and adapted to different historical circumstances. . . . Bailey . . . shows admirable command and understanding of a wide range of material."— July 2009, The Catholic Historical Review
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The only comprehensive, single-volume survey of magic available, this compelling book traces the history of magic, witchcraft, and superstitious practices such as popular spells or charms from antiquity to the present day. Focusing especially on Europe in the medieval and early modern eras, Michael Bailey also explores the ancient Near East, classical Greece and Rome, and the spread of magical systems—particularly modern witchcraft or Wicca—from Europe to the United States. He examines how magic and superstition have been defined in various historical eras and how these constructions have changed over time. He considers the ways in which specific categories of magic have been condemned, and how those identified as magicians or witches have been persecuted and prosecuted in various societies. Although conceptions of magic have changed over time, the author shows how magic has almost always served as a boundary marker separating socially acceptable actions from illicit ones, and more generally the known and understood from the unknown and occult.
-Ideal for undergraduate courses on magic and witchcraft and on medieval and early-modern Europe
-Well written and accessible to students
-The chronological organization, within which each chapter is organized thematically, allows for easy use in the classroom
-Presents the history of magic and witchcraft in a sophisticated, nuanced fashion that incorporates the most current scholarship
About the Author
Michael D. Bailey is assistant professor of history at Iowa State University.