This title explores stories of Britain's pagan history. These tales have been characterized by gods and fairies, folklore and magic. The book shows how important these stories are to the history of British culture, taking the reader on a lively tour from prehistory to the present.

A unique collection of materials, including works of literature as well as historical documents, Witchcraft and Society in England and America, 1550-1750 provides a broad view of how witches and magicians were represented in print and manuscript over three centuries. It combines newly annotated selections from famous texts, such as Macbeth, Doctor Faustus, and The Faerie Queene with unjustly obscure ones: portrayals of witchcraft and magic from private papers, court records, and little-known works of fiction. In this rich, broad context, Marion Gibson presents the voices of witches, accusers,...

Tells a story of injustice and passionate resistance to religious persecution in the last years of Queen Elizabeth's reign. Through an analysis of a sensational series of demonic possessions and exorcisms, this book highlights the existence of controversies in print in the late Elizabethan period of the kind that would one day lead to civil war.