Witches and Neighbors, but not in the bad greener way!

I finally finished reading Witches and Neighbors: The social and cultural context of European Witchcraft last night. I was despairing of ever finishing it. The author just had a style I found hard to get into, and seemed to have a hard time coming to any points. If I hadn't learned a lot from reading it I would almost say I hated it. But I feel I have a much better understanding of witchcraft accusations in the 16th and 17 century and how it's being researched these days. Instead of looking at the demonologists tomes on the subject, he read an awful lot of trial records. Most of his information, instead of coming from confessions of accused witches came from witnesses' accounts. He created an account of what life was actually like for peasants during this time. How unexpected deaths of people, and livestock were blamed on witches. Illness also frequently blamed on witches. How when witchcraft accusations were made, often by the cunning folk, it was to get the witches to remove their spells, or provide a cure. Many people were suspected of witchcraft for several years or even decades before, and sometimes never, being brought to trial. He looked on the "witch craze" as several outside events that were often urban in nature and motivated by a few individuals, rather than as a larger trend.

Taking so long to get this book finished, and enjoying it so little has put me off reading about witches for a little while. I lovingly picked up a book on ancient china last night and started the first few pages with such joy. I think I shall go and read some more of it now!