CASSELL'S DICTIONARY OF WITCHCRAFT forms an invaluable guide to a subject that has exerted a powerful influence on the popular imagination for centuries. It looks at the history of witchcraft, traces its development in countries such as Britain, Germany and the US, and explains the rituals and objects associated with it, from black sabbaths to covens, and from hands of glory to pentagrams. In addition, it provides biographies of key figures, such as the seventeenth-century 'Witch-Finder General' Matthew Hopkins, and the 'Great Beast' Aleister Crowley, and gives detailed accounts of notorious witch trials, drawing on contemporary documents and eye-witness views. The result is a fascinating blend of narrative and analysis that will be of interest to anyone intrigued by the occult and its history.