Instruments of Darkness

History

James, Sharpe

Europe

Penguin

With the renewed interest in the history of witches and witchcraft, this timely book provides an introduction to this fascinating topic, informed by the main trends of new thinking on the subject. Beginning with a discussion of witchcraft in the early modern period, and charting the witch panics that took place at this time, the author goes on to look at the historical debate surrounding the causes of the legal persecution of witches. Contemporary views of witchcraft put forward by judges, theological writers and the medical profession are examined, as is the place of witchcraft in the popular imagination. Jim Sharpe also looks at the gender dimensions of the witch persecution, and the treatment of witchcraft in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. Supported by a range of compelling documents, the book concludes with an exploration of why witch panics declined in the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth century.

Witchcraft in Early Modern England

Longman

'Early Modern England' combines consideration of more traditional concerns of social history with investigation of the newer items on the agenda of historians. There is as much attention given to the spiritual and mental worlds and cultural history as to examination of social structures.

Early modern England: A social history 1550-1760

E. Arnold

Sharpe James was elected mayor of his adopted city, Newark, New Jersey in 1986. He served for an unprecedented twenty years. As Mayor, Sharpe helped to move his beloved city from "urban blight to urban bright." After retiring in 2006, Sharpe was accused of crimes against his beloved city that he did not commit. He was indicted, arrested and convicted of these crimes receiving a sentence of twenty-seven months in a federal prison. While incarcerated, Sharpe wrote his memoir. Political Prisoner is a poignant story of a poor boy from Florida who rose to become a prominent politician in the state of New Jersey, only to be brought down by the unscrupulous tactics of an aspiring governor.

Political Prisoner: You Can Be Indicted, Arrested, Convicted and Sent to Prison Without Committing a Crime

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Nutany Pub Co

The Bewitching of Anne Gunter: A Horrible and True Story of Deception, Witchcraft, Murder, and the King of England

Routledge

In 1604, 20-year-old Anne Gunter was bewitched: she foamed at the mouth, contorted wildly in her bedchamber, went into trances. Her garters and bodices were perpetually unlacing themselves. Her signature symptom was to vomit pins and "she voided some pins downwards as well by her water or otherwise.." Popular history at its best, "The Bewitching of Anne Gunter" opens a fascinating window onto the past. It's a tale of controlling fathers, willful daughters, nosy neighbors, power relations between peasants and gentry, and village life in early-modern Europe. Above all it's an original and revealing story of one young woman's experience with the greatly misunderstood phenomenon of witchcraft. James Sharpe is Professor of History at York University and the author of "Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in" "Early Modern History" and other works of social history.

The Bewitching of Anne Gunter: A Horrible and True Story of Football, Witchcraft, Murder and the King of England

Publisher Not Specified

Had the Gunpowder Plot succeeded and the Catholics managed to blow up the king, the royal family and Parliament, English history would have been shaped by a terrorist act of unprecedented proportions, shattering in terms of both the damage inflicted and its propaganda value. James Sharpe examines the fateful night of 5 November 1605 and the tangled web of religion and politics which gave rise to the plot. He uncovers how celebration of the event, and of Guy Fawkes, the one gunpowder plotter everyone remembers, has changed over the centuries. Today, although most of the religious connotations have long been ignored, the bonfires remain. The festival created in 1605 by the state and church to commemorate a failed act of Catholic terrorism, now provides an annual raison d'etre for the firework industry and an annual source of concern for Britain's cat owners. Every year the crowds gather, the bonfires are lit and the firework displays dazzle again. Interestingly however, the tradition is fast changing and reverting to the pre-Gunpowder Plot festival (now much Americanised) of Halloween.

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November

Profile Books, Ltd.

Guy Fawkes is amongst the most celebrated figures in English history and Bonfire Night is a remarkably long lived and very English tradition. But why every November do we still mark a planned act of treason and terrorism that was defeated 400 years ago? James Sharpe examines the fateful night of 5 November, 1605 and the tangled web of religion and politics which gave rise to the plot. He uncovers how celebration of the event, and of Guy Fawkes, the one gunpowder plotter everyone remembers, has changed over the centuries. Today, although most of the religious connotations have long been ignored, the bonfires remain. The festival created in 1605 by the state and church to commemorate a failed act of Catholic terrorism, now provides an annual raison d'etre for the firework industry and a cause of concern for Britain's cat owners!

Profile Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by James, Sharpe. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by James, Sharpe

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by James, Sharpe. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Instruments of Darkness

Witchcraft in Early Modern England

Early modern England: A social history 1550-1760

Political Prisoner: You Can Be Indicted, Arrested, Convicted and Sent to Prison Without Committing a Crime

The Bewitching of Anne Gunter: A Horrible and True Story of Deception, Witchcraft, Murder, and the King of England

The Bewitching of Anne Gunter: A Horrible and True Story of Football, Witchcraft, Murder and the King of England

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November