Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England

A pioneering regional and comparative study centred on the Essex assize records. Macfarlane applies anthropological models to English witchcraft prosecutions, arguing that accusations typically arose from neighbourly tensions, refused charity and village quarrels rather than organised heresy. Together with Keith Thomas's work, it redirected the field toward social history. A demanding but foundational book for students of early modern England and of the witch trials generally.