Witches, like the poor, are always with us. From ancient times to the present the aged, ugly crone has worked her evil magic and been burned at the stake by an outraged authority, or cured her neighbours and their animals with the help of gentle herbs and beneficent spells. Such, at any rate, is the popular picture. But not much of that picture is true. At the very least, it is misleading. Many witches were young; many witches were men; many witches came to court and were acquitted. There is no clear distinction between so-called white magic and black.

Witches were not universally persecuted or tortured; it is not true that millions died; and the time they were most at risk covered less than a hundred years. So much more interesting than the cartoon stereotype, the real witch was a complex figure whose genuine story is only now starting to be unraveled, and this book offers the reader a fresh prospect of that intriguing narrative.