Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Real History of Witches and Witch Hunts

  • By: Thomas Fudge
  • Narrated by: Thomas Fudge
  • Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (12 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Real History of Witches and Witch Hunts cover art

The Real History of Witches and Witch Hunts

By: Thomas Fudge
Narrated by: Thomas Fudge
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Witch cover art
Ghost Stories: Stephen Fry's Definitive Collection cover art
A Selection of Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories cover art
Dark Folklore cover art
Great and Horrible News cover art
M.R. James: The Complete Ghost Stories Collection cover art
The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England cover art
Bad Religion cover art
Ghost Stories with Christopher Lee cover art
Guns, Germs and Steel cover art
I Know What I Saw cover art
Evil Archaeology cover art
Understanding Power cover art
The Origin of Satan cover art
Intellectuals and Society cover art
Marriage, a History cover art

Summary

Heralded as one of the world’s greatest scholars of scholars of late medieval religious heterodoxy, Thomas Fudge combines scholarly insight with great storytelling. 

For centuries, the idea of witches living in our midst has enthralled us. How did this fascination develop? Why did it lead to the persecution of thousands of accused “witches,” most of them women? What does the history of witch hunts reveal about our identities and Western civilization at large?   

Holding doctorates in both medieval history and theology, Prof. Fudge is the perfect guide for this audio course on witch-hunting. Under his tutelage, you will discover how a culture of paranoia developed, why those ideas appealed to men and women in the 16th and 17th centuries, and what effects linger even today. Throughout this 18-part series you will analyze primary sources to understand and contextualize the regulation, detection, and prosecution of alleged witchcraft. 

By studying the medieval foundations for modern manifestations of witch-hunting - like McCarthyism - you will become more conscientious of the social dynamics of witch-hunts. As Prof. Fudge underscores, witches are a topic “used, misused, and abused.” 

This course is part of the Learn25 collection and includes a free PDF study guide. 

©2018 Now You Know Media Inc. (P)2018 Now You Know Media Inc.

What listeners say about The Real History of Witches and Witch Hunts

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Difficult to listen to at times

Great content, but absolutely robotic reading. Difficult to listen to without drifting off. I feel a bit sorry for his students.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Book

A comprehensive but not exhausted study of Witchcraft Mania which tainted Western Europe with blood and horror. The author is unbiased and objective which is rare. The narration is perfectly engaging and reminded me of many live lectures attended in person. This book touches upon variances in explanations for causal factors of the witch hunts and acts like an introduction. By analogy; the comparison with problems in modern politics reminds that we have resolved nothing and failed to transcend our errors despite the fact that Some studies dissociate the past.
The descriptions in the book are quite horrible. The author does give warning though and doesn’t indulge. I look forward to more by the author…

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thought provoking

Very thorough handling of the subject, though provoking and very illuminating. It reminded me of my undergraduate studies. The speaker is occasionally stumbling over words and speaks slowly, but I didn’t mind that as his thought processes and explanations were good and I could follow the lectures. Particularly interesting subject for me as one of my ancestors was accused to be a witch.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Scholarly and horrifying

I found it upsetting at times. The author spares you the worst, but it's still very grisly here and there. I defy anyone not to be moved by the plight of the Pappenheim family.

It's very well presented, easy to follow, yet scholarly. It covers heresy, the law and processes. Considering it's quite short it covers a lot of ground. Very good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Bigoted view forced apoun it's reader

I do dislike when a bigoted view of an academic is forced into their work and appear smug about doing
It.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

The most boring voice

I was really looking forward to this audiobook but the man’s voice is so boring I don’t remember anything he said. I had to delete the book after 30 minutes. Shame.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!