Religion and the Decline of Magic by Sir Keith Thomas

Religion and the Decline of Magic by Sir Keith Thomas

Witchcraft, astrology, divination and every kind of popular magic flourished in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from the belief that a blessed amulet could prevent the assaults of the Devil to the use of the same charms to recover stolen goods. At the same time the Protestant Reformation attempted to take the magic out of religion, and scientists were developing new explanations of the universe. Keith Thomas's classic analysis of beliefs held on every level of English society begins with the collapse of the medieval Church and ends with the changing intellectual atmosphere around 1700, when science and rationalism began to challenge the older systems of belief.

Monumental.. with a living treasure on each page, and probably the book that, in my whole life, I've pressed on other people most energetically. (Selected people, of course. They have to care for history, and they need a sense of wonder and a sense of fun.) -- Hilary Mantel * New York Times *

Keith Thomas is a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He was formerly President of Corpus Christi College and, before that, Professor of Modern History and Fellow of St John's College. RELIGION AND DECLINE OF MAGIC, his first book, won one of the two Wolfson Literary Awards for History in 1972. He was knighted in 1988 for services to the study of history.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780140137446
ISBN 10	0140137440
Title	Religion and the Decline of Magic
Author	Sir Keith Thomas
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Penguin Books Ltd
Year published	2003-01-30
Number of pages	880
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable