Europe's Inner Demons

Cohn traces how a stereotype of secret, night-meeting, child-devouring conspirators was projected onto early Christians, heretics and finally witches, culminating in the great European witch-hunt. He also dismantles forged evidence long used to support claims of an organised witch cult, including Margaret Murray's theories. A lucid, influential work of intellectual history, valuable for anyone examining how persecuting fantasies are constructed and transmitted.