Europe's Inner Demons
  • Published: 26 November 1993
  • ISBN: 9780712657570
  • Imprint: Pimlico
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $42.00

Europe's Inner Demons

The Demonization of Christians In Medieval Christendom

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
26 Nov 1993
EBook
30 Nov 2011
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'This is a book of real stature which I hope will have a side impact. Only if we begin to understand the horrifying recesses of the human imagination can we prevent the recurrences of those dreadful, irrational persecutions which have so disfigured human history.' Anthony Storr

In this ground-breaking book, Professor Norman Cohn traces popular beliefs about witches to their origins. He examines the fantasies that inspired the great European witch-hunt of the 16th and 17th centuries when thousands of innocent people were tortured and burned alive. It is a fascinating history of the need to imagine antihuman conspiracies and an investigation of how those fantasies made the great European witch-hunt possible. In addition, Professor Cohn's discovery that some influential sources on witch trials were forgeries has revolutionized the field of witchcraft studies, making this one of the most essential books ever written on the subject.
  • Published: 26 November 1993
  • ISBN: 9780712657570
  • Imprint: Pimlico
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $42.00
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About the author

Norman Cohn

Norman Cohn was born in London in 1915 and educated at Gresham's School and Christ Church, Oxford. Scholar and research scholar at Christ Church between 1933 and 1939, after the war he taught in universities in England, Scotland, Ireland, America and Canada. In 1966 he became a Professorial Fellow in the University of Sussex and director of an international research project on the preconditions for persecutions and genocides. From 1973 to 1980 he was Astor-Wolfson Professor at Sussex and is now Professor Emeritus. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and the author of Warrant for Genocide, The Pursuit of the Millennium and Europe's Inner Demons. Norman Cohn died in 2007.

Also by Norman Cohn

The Pursuit Of The Millennium
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Praise for Europe's Inner Demons

It is not too much to say that Professor Cohn has revolutionised the study of the subject - It is a brilliant book.

Bernard Levin, Observer

An indispensable study.

Robin Lane Fox, Financial Times

This is a book of real stature which I hope will have a side impact. Only if we begin to understand the horrifying recesses of the human imagination can we prevent the recurrences of those dreadful, irrational persecutions which have so disfigured human history.

Anthony Storr