Introduction

Chapters in this book

1. Front matter i
2. Contents v
3. List of contributors vii
4. Introduction 1
5. 1 A case of witchcraft assault in early nineteenth-century England as ostensive action 14
6. 2 Witchcraft, witch doctors and the fight against ‘superstition’ in nineteenth-century Germany 29
7. 3 The witch and the detective 46
8. 4 Narrative and the social dynamics of magical harm in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Finland 69
9. 5 Boiling chickens and burning cats 89
10. 6 Witchcraft accusations in France, 1850–1990 107
11. 7 Magical healing in Spain (1875–1936) 133
12. 8 Witchcraft, healing and vernacular magic in Italy 151
13. 9 Curse, maleficium, divination 174
14. 10 Spooks and spooks 191
15. Index 213