What lessons can we learn from witch beliefs and witch-hunts in primitive societies and in earlier times? This cross-cultural survey of witchcraft aims to provide undergraduate students of anthropology and history with a comprehensive introduction to the figure of the witch.

Contents: Power and the Witch -- The Witch and Society -- The Idea of the Witch -- Detecting the Witch -- Witch Suspects: Suspicions Based upon the Personal Qualities of Suspects -- Witch Suspects: Suspicions Rooted in the Structural Position of the Accused -- Labelling the Witch -- Witchcraft, Power and Wealth -- European Witch: Maleficium and Demonology -- The Great Witch Craze -- Our Contemporary Witches

'Given that many classics in this field are out of print, if one were currently teaching an undergraduate course in anthropology which included the topic of witchcraft, this book, because of its scope and ease of reading, could prove a relatively inexpensive and convenient way to get students to start thinking about key issues of evil in society, power and symbolism, scapegoating, and the like. MAN This book will serve admirably as an overview of what can at times seem a vewildering array of ethnographies, histories and sociological analyses. It will be very welcome to the undergraduate student whom the author has in mind, and other researches will find its includsion of recent work on witchcraft and its extensive bibliography of considerable value. Social Anthropology A useful volume. Anthropos A book which is interesting and especially welcome for its interdisciplinary approach. Continuity and Change