Witchland: A Tale of Witch Hunting and War in Seventeenth-Century Britain

by Marion Gibson

Witchland tells the sensational story of a series of witch trials that convulsed Britain between 1640 and 1650. It was a witch hunt that began separately in south-east England and Lowland Scotland in the early 1640s and grew into a mass panic that killed hundreds of convicted 'witches' over the next decade. Most of these people lived in England’s eastern counties, where around 200-300 probably died – records are incomplete – but there were also important trials across Britain from West Lothian to Cornwall to Northamptonshire to Northumbia during this time. These trials were all related – by the puritan theology that drove them and by the violence and economic disruption that encouraged people to turn on each other. Some of the witch hunts' stories have been told individually before, but this book brings together ten cases demonstrating the huge national scale of the crisis. The ten cases each explore a community in turmoil, with a strong focus on the characters of the accused and accusers.

The British civil wars of the seventeenth century can seem intimidating in their complexity, but this book keeps the focus tightly on personal stories. The war rages in the background, but the reader will be fascinated by what happened to Anne West, Ellen Driver, Henry Maggs, Ann Jefferies and the other accused people whose stories structure each chapter in turn. One accused witch shares the author’s name – Marion Gibson – with provides a unique opportunity for the author to explore the personal impact of a witch trial and the sense that ‘it could have been me’.

The 1640-50 witch hunt shows us an unreasonable, angry and polarised Britain with echoes in the present. It deals with topics such as inequality, the refugee crisis of the civil war, and the violence that can develop from name-calling and stereotyping. Based on three years of archival research across Britain, it offers a completely new history of the country’s biggest witch hunt, explaining why it is relevant today.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Witches, Audiobook, Witchcraft, Halloween, British Literature

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 30, 2026

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received an ARC via Netgalley.

I was not a fan of Gibson’s Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials, mostly because while I agreed with her politics, some of it felt like a bit of a stretch, though I understood the point. I enjoyed this book far more.

Gibson looks at the witchcraft trials from the viewpoint of the victims. She focuses almost entirely on the women, detailing the diverse causes that lead the women to being arrested and charged. She also details as much as she came what came after, including those times when the women escaped, and why they were able to escape.

In many ways, it Is a good read along with Diane Purkiss’ book about the English Civil War.
What I particularly was the focus on the why and the who, not on the men who charged the women. It is a far better focus and gives the victims their due.

It would be fair to say that at times the tone is a little dry, but it does reward the reader. It also points the way to some of what Gibson covered in the Witchcraft – how people, for lack of a better term, manifest trials, cause them to be. She does from the beginning with her first case.

Not all the people accused were killed, and Gibson does include cases where the people survived the accusation, though as she readies notes finding the reason why or what happened after is not always easy. The book presents a more fleshed out picture of the trials as well as the possible motivations behind them.

[James Sutherland · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

Fantastic concept but sub-par execution.

The book didn’t delve enough into the practice of witchcraft for it to be fun and interesting and didn’t really use the witch trials for critiquing modern political landscapes enough for it to be engaging and thought provoking - that was just left to a few short paragraphs in the very last chapter and would have been better if it was a theme throughout. The book was rather repetitive and just talked about trials across different regions in Britain.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

An impressive companion to Witchcraft. Whereas Witchcraft explores thirteen individual trials, Witchland focuses closely on witch-hunting in/around 1640s Britain. Highly detailed yet v accessible, with the added intrigue of Gibson uncovering a witch accused under her own name. I loved this ! 🩷

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the history of witch trials by focusing on a few key villages in England in the 17th century.

I really enjoyed this book, but I would recommend reading it in bite-sized pieces. If you try to read it straight through, the sheer number of people (primarily women) impacted by the witch panic is enough to make everything blur together.

Reading straight through is also an interesting way to read this one because it heightens the feeling of panic as the wave of hatred closes in quite literally like a noose. However, taking some time between chapters allows for greater engagement with each story.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

audio book still counts. I loved this!! not sure what else to say, scratched an itch & now I’m going to hyper fixate on witch hunting

[Kirill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be a good entry point for someone who knows little about the British witch hunts. Each chapter is one witch hunt and provides a good timeline of events and sufficient local context to understand why some people were accused, what they were doing for a living, and what happened to them after (if they were lucky to get out of this nightmare alive). Witchland is particularly great at explaining larger historical context: the civil wars of 1630-50s and the Reformation, and how both contributed to the social tensions and unrest that fuelled the witch hunts. There is a lot of details in this one and I think it's a good thing, but occasionally I found it hard to follow (especially on audio) when a chapter introduces a dozen or so witch hunt victims. Still, a very good and interesting read.

[Tracey Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marion Gibson's Witchland is an engaging successor to her previous book, covering very similar ground. I possibly enjoyed it more because it featured 2 places I am familiar with (Newcastle and Framlingham)!

If you read a lot of non-fiction Gibson's occasionally overly emphatic style might take some getting used to: there's a lot of 'astonishingly' and 'tragically' and 'horribly', which sometimes grates: it feels like she doesn't trust the reader to recognise that bad things are bad. But her conversational style also makes for an easy read - I finished this in a handful of sittings.

[Alison Yong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read: This non fiction book is great and about a history I already knew a bit about. It lost a whole star though due to the phrase or word bite ‘fake news’. I do think it is interesting that you can and should make parallels between history and the present. However, when I’m enjoying a book I don’t need an “orange twonk” popping up in my mind. I could have made that link myself.
Anyway back to the book. Very interesting read and recommended by me.

[Holly Marsden · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

It was well researched and put together but about half way in a realised I *didn’t care* anymore. The premise of which, very detailed geographical and records of marriages etc, then filling in the unknowns was used in every chapter.

[Robin C · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 1640s were a tumultuous time in Britain. The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1642-1651) pitted England’s Royalists against the Parliamentarians, while also involving the Scots Covenanters and Irish Confederates. It ended with the beheading of King Charles I, the exile of Charles II, and the rise of Oliver Cromwell. And with war came great hardship, including food shortages, supply chain issues, the breakdown of church and government functions, and people accusing their neighbors of witchcraft.

Marion Gibson, professor at Exeter University and renowned author on the history of witchcraft and magic, traveled from the Scottish Lowlands to Essex, Suffolk, East Anglia, the Midlands, and northern England, following the witchcraft accusations and the trials during that tumultuous decade. Her travels provide Witchland readers with a sense of past and present, which old buildings and industries survived, how social and economic dynamics changed, how people lived in the 17th century and today. Gibson visited the shops and markets, the churches and graveyards. She walked the paths where convicted witches went from the prison to the gallows.

In Witchland, Gibson explains how the court functioned normally and how the wars changed that, from having less qualified men on the bench to towns hiring the self-styled Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins and John Stearne. (In part, the witch hunts slowed because towns realized the witchfinders were motivated by greed, not actual skills.)

The author explains the cruel methods of getting confessions, from sleep deprivation and constant movement (known as watching and walking) to using torture devices like thumb screws and leg crushers. One accused witch, Margaret Thomsone, stood on a stool intermittently for 26 days and nights. Not surprisingly, the mental and physical exhaustion caused some to confess to having imps, signing demonic pacts, or having sex with Satan. After confessing to being a witch, Margaret Wyard actually thanked her torturers. Vicar John Lowes confessed of his pride and boasted that his devilish powers caused him to sink a ship, causing 14 women to become widows. Before he was “turned off” the ladder, however, the vicar recited the Christian burial service to absolve himself.

From the remnants of records that exist, Gibson describes some of the accused, the charges, the confessions, the trials, and the verdicts, if known. In several towns, she discovered parish registers with a list of those “executed for witchcraft” who were buried in the churchyard.

Gibson says it is important to memorialize the witch hunts in Britain, not just to remember the victims but to recognize the causes—from economic uncertainties, corruption, and divisiveness to misogyny, culture wars, and politics—are lessons for us today.

Highly recommend.

Thanks to Scribner for the ARC.

[Joshua · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

The subject of this book could not be further in my wheelhouse of interests, yet I still struggled to get through this, Gibson's second trade book about the history of witchcraft in the Western Hemisphere. I found the cast of characters numerous and difficult to keep track of as the book moved between different towns/counties in Britain during the English Civil War of the early 17th century; in trying to remember names and the details of the accusations, I found myself losing track of the larger themes and social implications during this period of time. In part, this could be because I am quite familiar with the context of the culture, time period, and religious/political concerns that motivated the witch hunts of this era, so there may not have been enough for me to learn to find a way to latch onto the book outside of trying to immerse myself in the details of the individual stories that are told. And while the telling lost me a bit, I think it is an absolutely worthwhile aim on the part of Gibson to bring to life, in as much detail as possible, the lives of the women and men who were accused of witchcraft and—many of which—who lost their lives as a result. Her perspectival project to bring to life the stories of these folks who have been forgotten by history provides a necessary narrative recentering by focusing on victims over perpetrators. (That said, having not read much about the infamous witchhunter Matthew Hopkins prior to this, it was his story that was most compelling to follow since it traced across several chapters and had its own narrative arc. The book, as much as it tries to focus on the victims, undeniably is magnetized around this man's life, as it gives the text definitive shape.)

For those who have little awareness of the witch hunts that took over Britain at this time, this is a decent place to start. However, for those curious about these themes and issues, especially how they relate to patriarchal control and indoctrination, I would recommend Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi's How to Kill a Witch, a book which follows a similar perspective but with greater cohesion and depth. (And breadth, as the final chapter explores modern witch hunts in Africa.)

[Bookish Emili Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witchland: A Deadly Moral Panic in Seventeenth-Century Britain by Marion Gibson is a compelling and thoroughly researched examination of the witch hunts that swept through Britain during the seventeenth century. Blending history, social analysis, and vivid storytelling, Gibson brings to life a dark period shaped by fear, superstition, and the devastating consequences of mass hysteria.

One of the book's greatest strengths is its accessibility. Gibson presents historical events and complex social dynamics in a clear and engaging way, making the subject approachable for both casual readers and history enthusiasts. The accounts of real people caught up in accusations of witchcraft are particularly powerful, transforming historical records into deeply human stories.

The book also excels at placing the witch trials within their broader cultural and political context. Gibson explores how fear, power, religion, and community tensions combined to fuel moral panics, offering valuable insights that feel relevant beyond the historical period itself. Her analysis helps readers understand not only what happened, but why it happened.

At times, the level of detail can slow the narrative, particularly for readers seeking a more traditional chronological history. Some sections focus heavily on historical context and documentation, which may require additional attention from those unfamiliar with the era. However, the depth of research ultimately adds credibility and richness to the work.

Overall, Witchland is an informative, thought-provoking, and engaging study of one of history's most troubling episodes. Marion Gibson combines scholarly rigor with compelling storytelling, creating a book that is both educational and highly readable. It earns a solid four-star rating for its insightful analysis, strong research, and ability to illuminate the human stories behind the historical record.

[Julia Hayes · Rating 2.75 out of 5]

“If we forget these people from our witch hunting past, we’ll face a witch-hunting future.”

Gibson traces the path of witch finders across 17th century England to examine what exactly the witch hunts of the 1600s entailed. Each victim is given attention, putting together the pieces of their lives that can be salvaged. Readers are given the context of each town and time, so that the question can be answered, how did these terrible tragedies come to pass?

Witchland appears to be a thoroughly researched work, with even the tiniest details of victim’s lives provided where they can be. So many records have been lost, and some not even written down, each tidbit regarding the victims is vital. That being said, the book is a heavy read. If not for an impending book club, I would have had difficulty finishing this. Because the meat of Witchland is focused on naming victims and giving what little context to their lives that is available, it is not the most engaging read. I felt that while much of the information conveyed was certainly important, it felt sometimes like wading through sludge.

This is unlikely the fault of the author, but due to the fact that so many of the witch hunts followed a similar pattern, it became a rather tedious read after page 75. I wonder if there may have been a more concise way to communicate the information contained, or at least a more interesting way to present it.

The work and effort that has gone into Witchland is apparent, and it concludes nicely. The message is relevant to today. Perhaps the most interesting part of this read is learning just how similar the witch hunts of the 17th century are to the direction the U.S. is currently headed toward. Economic issues rise, and the poor and vulnerable take the brunt of it.

Overall, Witchland is an informative book with a valuable message. It is worthwhile, so long as you are willing to push through the tedium to reach the promised knowledge.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading and enjoying Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials by this author, I was thrilled to be approved for an arc by @netgalley and the publisher of Gibson’s latest examination of the persecution of women. And while I liked the her first book, I loved this one. Where her previous book focused on 13 individual trials, this book takes a broader approach and examines the witch hunts that across Britain in the 1640s.

I liked that Gibson puts her focus on the victims and through their stories show the evolution of the society’s attitude towards women and the trials changed over time. The way she ties the culture shift to the civil war was very enlightening for me and not a theory I’ve heard before.
Gibson has an easy and conversational way of writing that makes the information accessible and easy to comprehend. I think this would be a good book for people who think they don’t like non fiction to read. There is a lot of information being imparted here but I never feel like was reading a text book. Instead, I was enthralled by the plight of the women and at times found it to be a very emotional read.

And not only does Gibson give us the history of witches hunts of the 1600s in Britain, she examines and contrasts how this is relevant in our current times. This part was very well done and interesting and also a bit scary. The idea that political turmoil can fuel such division and persecution felt so relevant to our present world.

My only small note is that at times, probably due to her passion for the subject matter, the author does become a bit overly dramatic with her reactions and descriptions of the horrific situations being described. I just think a little restraint in this area would have been more effective. But this is a tiny complaint because I think this book is so well done and such an interesting and informative read. If you have an interest in the witch trials or history in general, definitely give this one a read.

[Anne Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Witchland" was a really interesting look at the history and development of the witch trials in seventeenth-century Britain. Focusing on the victims and the historical causes for the witch panic, author Marion Gibson explores the changes in people's attitude towards 'charming' and calling people witches across the 1600s. It was interesting to see that in the earlier part of the century, you could get off more with a warning the first time you were found guilty of being a witch. As the century progressed, times grew harder thanks to the wars between the King's Cavaliers and the Parliamentarians, and communities were stressed in different ways, things changed. Then you started getting more accusations, the rise of the "witch finders" and the large (sometimes surprisingly large) trials.

Gibson does a good job talking about the victims and their experiences considering there is often not much to find in the records. Some of the information came s a real surprise to me: like the accused having to pay for their time in jail (or have their debts settled by others if they died), including paying the men who often tortured and killed them. For the most part the book is quite readable, though sometimes Gibson over-emphasises what the reader is supposed to be finding shocking or horrifying. Apparently she doesn't trust her readers to have the appropriate reactions on their own?

But this is the first book I've read that puts the witch panic in such good historical context and that was worth the annoying bits.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner for the eARC!

I really enjoyed (not sure if that’s the right word considering all the executions and whatnot but it will have to do) the author’s last book, so when I saw this was coming out, I was eager to get a chance to read it. I can say that I find the book quite interesting and easy to read. I also have a weird (or is it though?) fascination with the history of witch trials, so I’m always down to read a new book about the topic.

Although the book is heavy on historical details, it isn’t hard to follow and the writing is engaging. I learned plenty of new things about the witch trials in England. I also liked that the author focused on the victims more than the perpetrators. Most of us know the name Matthew Hopkins, but so few of us know the people who he helped kill. Also, not relevant and I hate to give him any more attention, but he wasn’t even thirty when he died and that threw me for a loop. Imagine roaming the country looking for witches, getting paid for said hunts, leading possibly hundreds (if not more) people to their death and being The Absolute Worst all before 30. Yikes.

Overall, an interesting, engaging book that was both fascinating and heart-breaking. I’d recommend this one for anyone interested in the history of witch trials, the way superstitious beliefs can spread, and what the life of those killed was like before their executions.

[Devon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witchland: A Deadly Moral Panic in Seventeenth Century Britain by Marion Gibson hops around England and Scotland, following the outcropping of witch trials that appeared over the years, mainly hewing between the 1640s-1650s with a few scattered references to witch trials from earlier and later periods.

Positive thought:

+I like that the author opened the book by dipping into the 17th century turmoil, specifically the Civil War, illustrating that the conflict and chaos supported the witch trials and helped to fuel them. The trials didn’t just spring up out of nowhere; they are evidence of a society that was pulling itself apart and looking for someone to blame for the destruction.

Negative thought:

-It is difficult to keep track of who has been accused of what and who was executed, especially in a chapter like the Framlingham Witches where the author lists a dozen names and then notes rapid fire who faced trial for certain and who may not have as they were at least once rejected for insufficient evidence. I understand why, it just makes it harder to recollect and stick a name with a deed, especially when many women share the same names.

This is an interesting book, and I’ll recommend it to people who want to know more about what was broadly occurring during the English Civil War years and how the fighting helped to contribute to the finding of witches.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[KBeansbook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witchland is a thought provoking exceptionally well researched book based of the 18th century’s witch-hunts that were taking place in Britain. The author has an easy way of explaining and describing the historical details and the events that led up to the witch hunts and trials and focuses strongly on the societal context and how these horrific incidents took shape and spread like wildfire throughout Britain after the civil war.
She has a great insight into applying these circumstances to modern day society and often compares the historical events to modern times and philosophizes about the connections and why they are relevant and continue to exist.
I found this book extremely well documented, an easy read even though there were times when the historical context was heavily referenced and the depths that the author would go to were just a little too much but overall it was highly compelling and the controversy in which the book surrounds the history of these events was riveting and also extremely emotional and devastating.
Thank you to #MarionGibson for the wonderfully informative and exceptional historical account of the witch hunts in Britain during the 18th century and her comparison and philosophy of their relevance to modern society in her compelling book #Witchland and thank you to #Netgalley for the ARC and thank you also to #Scribner publishers for the opportunity to share my feedback

[Darcia Helle · Rating 5 out of 5]

WITCHLAND is a fascinating examination of the witchhunts of the 1600s.

We see how politics and religion entwined to create the perfect storm of circumstances. Religious fervour and fear combined with intolerance to prompt persecutions of anyone who stood out as different, labeling them as witches.

Despite this happening almost 400 years ago, it’s easy to see shades of what’s happening today, with the rise of the religious right, extremism, intolerance, and religion bleeding into politics. While we no longer burn or hang witches, we do still villainize marginalized people and anyone who goes against the grain of society.

I alternated between reading my print copy and listening to the audiobook. You can’t go wrong with either. The storytelling style makes for an easy read, and Anna Wilson-Jones is the perfect voice, keeping us engaged throughout.

*Thanks to Scribner Books (#ScribnerInfluencer) for the free print copy, and to Simon Audio (#SimonAudioInfluencer) for the free audiobook download!*

[Zoe Lipman · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5

This was such a great non-fiction book about a little talked about subject. When you think of witch trials, you think of Salem - but that's not the only witch trials. And the British witch trials were much more intense and wide-spread. They did what we think they did in Salem.

I learned a lot in this book. And I especially appreciated how it related to today's world. I thought including that conversation was a really nice touch. Basically, people are afraid of change and like to blame women.

I could find some parts to be a bit meandering and repetitive, but the repetitiveness made sense. So that didn't bother me as much as the meandering.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such an interesting book to read! It was really sad to learn about happened to these women during the English Civil War! It was so terrible how the ongoing war and economic difficulties caused such a divide in the country!

I liked that the book included lots of photos of different historical documents and photos where actual events occurred. The author obviously did a significant amount of research before writing this book and it shows! I liked that the historical information is included, but so is the emotion that it invokes!

The perfect Fall read for anyone interested in witchcraft and witch trials! Definitely fascinating!

[Bianca Vecchio · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much! Like all of Gibson's work she found a way to make the past accessible, emotional and feel so connected to what is happening in the present. Each chapter and each 'witch' explored was done with so much respect, amazing use of evidence and gentle but fair assessment. I still think Witchcraft A history in 13 trials is my favorite ever book written about witches in history but this book Witchland has joined the ranks of one of my most favorite texts on the past and i recommend it to all!!

[Eliza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an informative read. I barely knew anything about the English witch trials, or any historic witch trials, before reading this. I loved the focus on the victims, particularly sharing their life outside of being accused as a witch, and the analysis of why they may have been accused. Tying in with that, the English witch trials were exacerbated by the civil war, and this point was discussed throughout the book. Particularly, it talked about the political instability that can feed these culture wars, reminding us to not repeat these atrocities.

[Staci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome to Witchland, the engaging new book by Marion Gibson, which takes us on well researched tour of witchhunts in Scotland and England during the grim world of the 1600s. Poor? Widowed and indebted to the parish? Or rich and unpopular, or on the wrong side of current theology? You were mostly likely a witch, an inconvenient and wicked person who was strangled and burned in Scotland or hanged in England.
The author gives us the names of these women and men and the names of the so called witchfinders who tortured them and murdered them. Although the stories in the book describe a harsh and brutal time, they are engaging, highly readable, and thought provoking. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Liz · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Well researched, but rather dry. Unfortunately I don’t think the historical record gives us enough information the give a rich narrative to many of the accused witches lives.

The chapter on Anne Jeffies differed, as there are several accounts of her life to draw from. That chapter I found very fascinating.

The conclusion was very timely, drawing comparisons to modern day political witch hunts, with those in power demonizing the poor, immigrants, and those of different religions.

[Jeffrey Duncan · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

An excellently researched and written book on witch persecution long before our Salem witch trials in 1692. The author admits that there is so much more to learn about those who were accused as well as the accusers. We are left pondering our current time of polarization, fake news, corruption and anger - and what we might learn from history. The book would have been a little better to follow with maps showing locations mentioned in relationship to other key spots.

[SA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Goodreads, the author and publisher for a copy of this book.

This is the perfect non-fiction read leading up to the Halloween season. It was very interesting to learn about the trials from the female perspective. The book is well researched and provides good historic context.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting.

[Steve Ring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and well researched

[Hayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gives an overview of witchcraft throughout time with specific cases. This one failed to keep my interest and was a just ok book for me.