Cursed Britain: A History of Witchcraft and Black Magic in Modern Times

by Thomas Waters

The definitive history of how witchcraft and black magic have survived, through the modern era and into the present day

Cursed Britain unveils the enduring power of witchcraft, curses and black magic in modern times. Few topics are so secretive or controversial. Yet, whether in the 1800s or the early 2000s, when disasters struck or personal misfortunes mounted, many Britons found themselves believing in things they had previously dismissed – dark supernatural forces.

Historian Thomas Waters here explores the lives of cursed or bewitched people, along with the witches and witch-busters who helped and harmed them. Waters takes us on a fascinating journey from Scottish islands to the folklore-rich West Country, from the immense territories of the British Empire to metropolitan London. We learn why magic caters to deep-seated human needs but see how it can also be abused, and discover how witchcraft survives by evolving and changing. Along the way, we examine an array of remarkable beliefs and rituals, from traditional folk magic to diverse spiritualities originating in Africa and Asia.

This is a tale of cynical quacks and sincere magical healers, depressed people and furious vigilantes, innocent victims and rogues who claimed to possess evil abilities. Their spellbinding stories raise important questions about the state’s role in regulating radical spiritualities, the fragility of secularism and the true nature of magic.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Folklore, Occult, Witchcraft, Witches, Religion

360 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 2019

About the author

Dr Thomas Waters is an expert on the history of witchcraft and magic and a teacher of history at Imperial College London and the Workers' Educational Association. Born in Sheffield in 1983, he was educated at the universities of Leeds and Oxford, and currently lives in Nottinghamshire.

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

Pretty good, thorough overview of witchcraft in Britain (though mostly England and Scotland) from the medieval period on, with lots of examples. Tracks through the ebb and flow of belief with some interesting analysis on how and why things have changed, also the (extremely recent) invention of modern witchcraft practices and how they've been backdated for authenticity. There's a chapter on witchcraft and colonialism, touching on India, Australia, New Zealand and some African countries. This is entirely from the perspective of how British colonisers abroad were affected by magic in those countries, which is probably sensible given the remit of the book and scale of the subject.

Generally pretty readable, if not stylistically great. Has the extremely unlikeable habit of using men's surnames but switching to women's first names. Yeah, if you don't feel compelled to call Aleister Crowley 'Aleister', you can probably manage not to call women by their first names either.

[Kalyn✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many other reviewers, I did notice that there was a slight disconnect between the title and the actual content. Cursed Britain: A History of Witchcraft and Black Magic in Modern Times doesn't necessarily revolve around Britain itself, and the "Modern Times" part was extremely limited, offering way more about Victorian beliefs than today's. It didn't bother me at all, but if you're looking for something that goes in depth on current witchcraft/black magic beliefs, look elsewhere.

Thomas Waters definitely knows what he's talking about and his expertise shines in this elaborate account of witchcraft and black magic. However, some parts were drawn out and I did get bored at those particular spots, which caused me to skim over some of the text. I'm certain this won't be an issue if you're really, really interested in the topic.

This book covers plenty of things that I haven't heard elsewhere, and I appreciate how much effort and knowledge went into writing it. If you've ever been interested in the deep history of witchcraft and black magic, be sure to pick this one up!

A big thank you to Yale University Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Cursed Britain was a long and difficult read for me to get through but I pushed through it in high hopes it may suddenly surprise me, unfortunately it didn't.
This books title states Cursed Britain leading you to think the book is about witchcraft and dark magic and curses in British history but isn't necessarily just about Britain as is noticed when you read it.
The book is quite heavy going and drawn out which caused the book to become boring and dragging as it was read.
I rated this book 3 stars instead of the initial 2 stars I was going to give it because the author does seem to have an extensive knowledge about the subject and not everyone will have the same opinion on this book as me so do give it a read if it sounds your type of read.
Photographs or drawings would of been nice scattered through the book and would have made an interesting addition within the book.

[Arybo ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

How can a book about witchcraft be so boring? I know how: putting every single article's news of the period in it.

I wanted something more general about the witchcraft in Britain, but this wasn'r for me. Too much informations, I lost interest from the beginning, reading every single case described in the first chapter. The informations about magic outside the Britain (but part of Britain Empire) were fascinating, but one chapter is not enough to appreciate the entire book.

The book is difficult to follow because of the many cases and the different situations of magic people in Britain. More difficult to understand is what the author wanted to discuss: black magic, white magic, witchcraft of what sort? There are fortune-tellers, witch doctors, tarots Readers… It's like a big cauldron full of knowledge, but everything you can see is green sludge.

**Thanks to Netgalley for sending me an arc of this book**

[Emiloid · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This book was frustrating. First of all, this is not a coverage of actual black magic practice, but a survey of beliefs about witchcraft. I actually went to a lecture by Thomas Waters in London, and while I figured he was no occult practitioner, I thought I could learn some occult history from his book. I acknowledge that I was impressed with this book's thorough research, and its section on the import of magical belief from Britain's colonies was an interesting exploration of how an imperialist mindset can backfire in an unexpected way.

HOWEVER, I took major issue with this book's terminology. As a practicing witch, I take issue with Waters' use of the word "witchcraft" as a blanket term for black magic/hexing, etc. While he does say at the beginning that he is using this word to refer to black magic (and NOT paths like Wicca), I believe a) it's a reductive usage, when witchcraft encompasses so many concepts and ideas, and b) Waters simply doesn't make this distinction often enough. When he uses "witchcraft" to refer to people's PARANOIA about witchcraft, or uses the word "witches" to refer to ALLEGED/ACCUSED witches, that is also misleading. This almost makes me worry that someone with no prior knowledge of this topic might read this book and believe that paranoia, quackery, and ill intentions are all there is to witchcraft.

I skimmed the first ~130 pages or so of this book because they were repetitive. Basically, they covered 100+ versions of the same anecdote about people who believed they were cursed, from the Regency to early Victorian period. It wasn't until we reached the section about the occult revival in the Victorian era that I felt I was getting a breath of fresh air. But then again, Waters made some weird choices about who/what to pay attention to. For instance, he acknowledges Aleister Crowley, one of the foremost occult figures during the fin de siecle, as a practitioner of black magic - and yet he only devotes half a paragraph to this historic person. Decisions like that were baffling. He also misses some major opportunities to delve into local folklore surrounding witchcraft, even though he acknowledges oral storytelling played a huge part in propagating these beliefs.

Moreover, I feel like Thomas Waters never talked to actual witches about their beliefs on this subject. There was no acknowledgement of Wicca's common practice of eschewing black magic, or any survey of other types of pagans or witches. I understand that field work is hard for a historian, but considering witchcraft and magic are living and breathing things (which even he acknowledges), I would have appreciated him making the effort.

In the end, Thomas Waters concludes that magical practice could benefit from government control, which I think only applies in very specific contexts such as health and medicine. Magic and witchcraft are nebulous things that are individual to the people who practice them - how would you regulate them? I would argue that people should simply be educated about these practices, as they should be about any belief system like Christianity. It's only then you can distinguish the pretenders from the real thing. I admit I haven't fully formed my thoughts on his conclusion but that's my initial impression. Ultimately, Thomas Waters certainly accomplished something with this book, but it's not what the title would imply it does.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this unfortunately while in a hurry and simply went for it because of the title. I soon found this has little to do with 'modern times' as most of the book concerns anecdotes revolving around Victorian newspaper cuttings. Thats great if its your thing to hear about the belief that people thought they were cursed in those days.
There are some odd statements made by the author such as 'everyone knows witchcraft in Britain and North America witchcraft was a powerful concept between 1400-1700'. Really? Well I was not taught that in school and how many people do you know would say they knew this if asked?!
Another annoying aspect of this book is that it covers witchcraft in Africa, Asia and the old British colonies. Not actually Britain as the title says.
Another nonsensical statement is 'Few of us are aware of the FACT that black magic haunts the modern West albeit more secretly'. Its nonsense as there is no evidence of this. It doesn't haunt me or anyone I know. This is the 21st century, and we have moved on from believing in the bogeyman under the bed.
Yet another claim by the author is that 'Witchcraft still exists or is thought to even by people with university degrees and access to scientific medicine'. Not entirely true Dr.Waters. as anyone attempting to talk to their GP or university supervisor about it will soon find out!
This whole book suggests witchcraft is purely evil black magic which we must all fear.In his conclusion-which reads like a religious scaremongering Tract he states that witchcraft must be controlled, yet we can't actually see any evidence of evil witches who are out there cursing us. Maybe the author is a victim of his own fears of being 'cursed'.

[Laura ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★☆ 4 stars

Waters presents a comprehensive account of witchcraft in Britain from the 19th century up to almost the present that is comprehensive, accessible, and informative.

Non-fiction materials surrounding this topic are rather unusual, and therefore it is commendable that Waters has attempted to create a comprehensive account herein.

At times, however, I felt that the writing was very long-winded, and got rather tedious to focus on.

Overall this was an interesting read though!

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review *

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

It appears the mixed reception of this work revolves around its title. The inclusion of the word 'Modern' clearly led to expectations of more recent accounts of black magic and witchcraft and while the later period is covered the information is sparse. However, the study of witchcraft and indeed attempting any investigation into its actual practice is fraught with possible pitfalls. Such research requires actual access into a rather shadowy world sometimes peopled by practitioners of an equal shade. Even finding such practitioners let alone asking them to agree to talk about a perhaps hidden sub-culture will be an extremely difficult task.
Therefore we can assess what Waters has achieved here as much as what he failed to. An expert on 19thC supernatural beliefs there was no surprise the book starts in that period. Many years of collecting and collating actual real life accounts drawn from the press here form a quite unique database of immense importance to researchers and local historians. Given that, for the casual reader such extensive reports may become tedious and with both an academic and general readership as its target audience, Waters has overstated the point for the latter.
I see no reason for the added information about witchcraft beliefs in the British Empire and beyond. Those beliefs did not originate there and were more likely exported from Britain itself. An example is how the well known attempts to harm by magic via the use of 'poppets' or Voodoo Dolls is a relatively new idea imported into Africa and the Caribbean through literature and missionaries holding knowledge of reports from 17thC British witchcraft trials. The original Voudon cults never employed this particular form of magic.
Waters looks at the existence of so-called Cunning Folk, basically localised folk healers,fortune-tellers and general boasters of an ability to 'un-witch' those believing themselves cursed. Most were charlatans preying on peoples fears and often extorting large sums from their clients who were impressed by the practitioners supposed use of old magical grimoires. Such magical texts were an important tool to add confidence in the cunning persons supposed powers. In reality, they did not understand the contents any more than the client but produced them as trophies that beguiled onlookers.
The seeming contradiction in Waters statement that black magic and witchcraft can be both therapeutic and dangerous can be explained in the realization that today, there are unscrupulous people worldwide charging huge sums of money to lift curses just as the old cunning folk had claimed centuries earlier. Therapeutic because the client believes the curse has now gone but dangerous because fraud seldom limits itself. This also helps to clear up Waters statement at the end of the book that these practices need some form of legislation in attempt to outlaw them.
I found some factual errors dotted around the book.For example one of the weapons used in the Charles Walton 'witchcraft murder' in 1945 was a pitchfork not a garden fork as Waters states on p.217. A technical error that could prove vital in a murder enquiry but of little detraction here.
A rather odd assertion on p.260 states casually that 'during the period 1970-2010 Britain experienced a modest but sustained revival of magic'. Its odd because in that period Britain saw a huge rise of interest in the Occult and everything supernatural.Kenneth Grant the famous Occultist's 1972 book The Magical Revival sums this up tracing the increase in magical interest from the late 19thC up until Grants work was published. While devoting pages to Dion Fortune's importance in the development of modern Occultism, Waters lingers far too long with her and omits figures such as Austin Osman Spare and the O.T.O one of the most important groups in modern Occult history. Aleister Crowley the infamous so called 'most evil man in the world' gets only a brief mention.
The principal failure of this investigation then can be summarised as this review began in that both the academic general historian and the casual reader may find disappointment in the basic overview offered as the book progresses into modern times. While Waters scholarship in the Victorian era here is certainly as described on the jacket as 'monumental' Ronald Huttons use of the word 'Broad' warns of an impending attempt to cover everything in one volume. As it stands this book demonstrates how belief in the powers of black magic and malevolent witchcraft to harm or cause misfortune has persisted into modern times. We now need to ascertain if such fears were or are still justified. If so,we will then need to understand exactly who might be behind such directions of ill intent and their motives for doing so.

[Eli · Rating 5 out of 5]

The early modern period runs 1500-1800. Modern history generally covers 1800-now. There is nothing misleading about the title of this book.

Cursed Britain is about how cursing and black magic fell out of vogue (primarily due to government regulations, supported by journalistic headlines that shamed those who believed) and how British Imperialism sparked a renewed interest in the occult arts. Belief, emphasises the author, is contagious. Those who went to the colonies often reconsidered their worldview.

The final message is not that we should criminalise witchcraft. It's that it should be a regulated field, like others, to prevent fraudsters and witch hunters. My only issue with that is: how would the authorities be able to distinguish between honest practitioners and fraudsters? Between those whose religion leads to the betterment of a community and those where it is potentially damaging?

Overall a well-written work of scholarship that is accessible and pretty propulsive reading--unusual for academic books. I learnt a lot; it was particularly interesting to hear stories from the perspective of people who felt they'd been cursed and blamed witches, and as mentioned, how "civilising missions" often resulted in an exchange of ideas.

[Lauren D'Souza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Expectation: I wanted this book to be a collection of fun and dark stories about witchcraft in modern-day Britain, covering topics like The Satanic Temple or recent Pagan rituals at Stonehenge that are attended by hundreds. A huge culture of goths, black magic, Paganism, and Satanism has emerged all around the world, and is certainly present in Britain.

Reality: This book was mostly historical*, discussing beliefs and practices of witchcraft in England and the British Empire in the 1700s/Victorian era. It is extremely long-winded and, to be honest, boring. I appreciate the time and effort that clearly went into collecting the detailed primary sources - Victorian newspapers, letters, etc. - but this particular line of historical inquiry frankly wasn't interesting to me. If the book had been more aptly named to reflect its true contents, I probably would not have picked it up.
*I understand that historians often use "modern" to refer to anything post-1750, but most non-historians think of "modern" to mean post-1950 or even later. This distinction is key, in my opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and Yale University Press for the ARC.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn’t too bad. I wish the author had gone into more depth with a few examples, instead of just listing a million different baseless stories.
By stories I mean, he wrote one line about a person that said something along the lines of ‘John from Scunthorpe accused Maggie the moody of owning a cat, therefore she was ostracised from society.’ 🐈‍⬛

[Alicja · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating: 3.25/5 Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my e-copy.

‘Cursed Britain: A History of Witchcraft and Black Magic in Modern Times’ by Thomas Waters covers the history of witchcraft from the 19th century up to contemporary times, focusing rather on those ‘cursed’ and those who believed in witches and witchcraft rather than witches and those practising magic or witchcraft. While those practisers of witchcraft still play important role in Thomas Waters’ book, they are not the most important part of ‘Cursed Britain’. At the forefront are those who have experienced the curses and bewitchments. Importantly, Thomas Waters makes a point that not always they were able to point out who was ‘the witch’ responsible for their misfortune. In other cases, pointing into a direction of a witch was easy – and often it was a person in the community that was older, poorer and somehow misfortunate as well, usually female.

Thomas Waters uses interesting and often quite unusual primary and secondary sources in order to create a comprehensive account of witchcraft in the modern times, but I felt that some parts of the book worked better than the others. While on the overall, ‘Cursed Britain’ has been an interesting read, I have enjoyed the latter half of the book far more. The discussion of the witchcraft in the old British colonies has been interesting personally for me as well as analysing the immigration and its effect on the beliefs of the British people, with new traditions, beliefs and tales coming into play.

[Bill Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hesitated over picking this one up because I've read a fair number of books and articles about witchcraft recently and wasn't sure there was much new to learn, but I'm glad I took a chance on it. CURSED BRITAIN tells its story from a new viewpoint, a comprehensive account of the use of the supernatural to perform harmful acts, witchcraft yes, but also "cursing" in a larger sense. In the course of his examination of malicious rites, Waters explores the history of folk magic in detail from the 18th through the 21st centuries, not solely from the aspects of persecution, but also in relation to movements like mesmerism, spiritualism, and decadent-era occultism that influenced belief and folk practices in some surprising ways. I was particularly taken with his insights into the way white magicians borrowed from the current fads to perform their anti-hexing.

Even the chapters on witchcraft have something new to offer, detailed accounts of cases that took place after English law ceased to recognize witchcraft as a crime but that penalized the pretense to supernatural power. There are also lengthy accounts of cunning men and other characters who adapted their art to the new laws and the new enthusiasms that were illuminating urban life.

Like the best books of this sort, this one includes extensive notes and bibliographic detail, lots more twisted trails to travel if one is so inclined.

[Kate Mccarthy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basically I saw this being hyped up on social media as controversial plus there is a video hyping it with sinister music. Rushed off to buy it at my local shop and couldn't wait to get home and read it. It was not long into the book before I was totally bored.The first 100+ pages are Victorian newspaper reports about people who believed they were cursed.
Skipping to the next part I found it consisted of beliefs about being cursed in the old British Empire Africa and Asia. None of this was relevant to Britain. Throughout the book the author begins to flounder as he struggles to differentiate between modern and historical witchcraft,cunning folk and fortune tellers. Again and again he reverts to Victorian examples of belief.
The title says Modern Times but all we get on that is a brief overview. There is no mention of all the leading figures in the Occult revival but instead he devotes pages about Dion Fortune's work.
There are much better books on the history and development of Black Magic sometimes written by those actually involved in it.
The title is therefore misleading. This may be of some use to his fellow academics but for the rest of us it is dry,dull and excruciatingly tiresome. Thankfully my bookshop agreed to refund me.

[A_Place_In The_Orchard · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should have been a magnificent book. It should have been one of those tomes that you are constantly dipping in and out of, in search of one arcane fact or another. In fact, it reads like an overall article that was submitted to the Fortean Times... and promptly sent back again, with the two-word cover letter, "so what?"

Waters' premise is fascinating, and the book is certainly weightly enough that he could have explored it in painstaking depth. Instead, it's just one incident after another, reiterated in sufficient detail to get you interested, and then blinking out without any... I don't know. Resolution? Discussion? You know how modern news broadcasts will tell how "this" happened, "that" happened and "something else" happened, but you never, ever get to find out what happened next to any of them? That's how "Cursed Britain" feels. It's a gazeteer without a map, a list without a purpose, and ultimately a bore.

Such a shame.

[Reyes Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5⭐

Excelentemente documentado, merece la pena sólo por su último capítulo, "Multicultural Magic: 1970-2015".

[Mánas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
It's overall pretty readable; a book which kept me fairly entertained to the end. It can ramble at times, and the scope of the contents was too broad

[Iona · Rating 2 out of 5]

Must say I feel a little short-changed after buying this. Its not really what the title implies but more a collection of Victorian belief about being cursed. Not much on todays stuff and what there is I could easily find on the web so nothing new here.

[Danny Farham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough account on the history of witchcraft. The book is well organised and covers a time period from 1500’s to the modern day. If you want to know the history of witchcraft in Britain, then it would be hard to find a more informative book.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

This proved to be a very good book about the last two centuries of witchery in Britain, if just missing the spark that made it perfect for the layman reader. In actual fact, however, it may also lack a little restraint needed for the academic audience, for I found it suddenly breaking away from its discursive yet chronological telling to discuss things like Irishmen throwing curses, or the language used to talk about witches and their craft across the Isles. It also throws itself at the subject of witches found in the old Empire, without taking time to say what they would have been doing. That said, larger sections, such as one on just why witches are thought of as haggard old women, prove the superlative work of research this volume is, and the more up-to-date pages where witchery and devilment is a stimulus for people to commit child abuse and murder are very sensitively handled. So this is still strongly authoritative, and well worth consideration if this subject is close to your interests. The casual browser can get through this comfortably, for it never gets stuffy (and the details about how very young the Tarot deck and wicca are will amaze many) but they may feel it a little too comprehensive.

[Violet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fascinating and well-written book. I have read a few books about witchcraft and while I still read them every now and then, I tend to be disappointed because I don't feel I learn much I didn't know already after reading a couple of books. This was different and mostly because a lot of what I have read before was about the witch trials, rather than popular beliefs and attitudes. I had no idea Victorians still believed in witchcraft as much as they did, or what the law said, or what people often believed and how they explained their beliefs in the supernatural. I found the chapter on colonisation and witchcraft really interesting as well and very informative; and the attitudes to immigration in Britain - towards Roma and Irish people especially - was eye-opening.
It was a fantastic book to read and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

(Free copy from Netgalley)

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry, this is a dnf for me. You don't know how much I wanted to finish, it was a present and I was really excited by the cover/blurb but...

Okay, I'm one of the people who feels mislead by the title. But not by the modern bit. I feel it needs to be more specific, because this is not a history of witchcraft and black magic, it's a history of witchcraft beliefs.

The first 1/2 of the book is pretty much just the author making the point that witchcraft belief persisted in the population for much longer than is widely believed. I didn't really need half of a book to tell me that. Some of the case studies were interesting but the style of the writing is more suited to academic papers than a book intended for popular consumption (though it should be noted that i think academic papers should be written in a more more accessable way too). The book could have benefitted from selecting a smaller number of cases and exploring then in more detail to illustrate what they say about witchcraft in that era.

He also makes some weird assertions. Like, he has a section on why women were more likely to be advised of witchcraft where he concludes "because that's the stereotype", which is a weirdly circular argument. He also states that witches cured mental illness by "[urging] their clients to abandon negative thought patterns" which seems to be a bit of a stretch of a conclusion from 'witches insisted that the magic would only work if you believed in it'. Like, inevitably some people were made better by witchcraft because placebo effect but. He also says that witches were like therapists because you tell them everything but therapy isn't just telling your story to someone. Very odd.

Chapter six was the closest to what I expected, concerning itself with the history of witchcraft as a practice, mesmerism, the rise of theosophy, spiritualism etc. And the ways the old magical thinking about witches transitioned into this more new age magical thinking about positive thoughts and tarot cards. It was perhaps a little brief but decent.

I stepped out half way through the next chapter. I hung in for it as many reviews mentioned it specifically, it dealing with empire and how the Brits in charge on empire reacted to native magics, but i couldn't get on with the writing style and the impersonal way it was delivered. For a book about what people believe, specific deep dive into the beliefs of individual seemed rare.

Others may like this more than me, it's certainly well researched, but i need to step away.

Two stars.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a general overview of the history of witchcraft in the UK, this was decent. Waters starts his book in the 1800s and then takes us through the 19th and 20th century to conclude in 2015, separating the chapters into different time periods along broad thematic lines. For the most part, the writing is quite solid and is engaging enough, and the subject matter is interesting by its nature. I also appreciated the chapter focusing on colonialism - although I do think this chapter was a bit underdeveloped and felt shorter than the other chapters.

I do think, though, that it was quite dry in parts, and began to feel very, very long by the time I finished it. After a while, each chapter just felt like a list of different incidents, newspaper articles, courtroom documents etc., and I began to find it hard to tell what point, exactly, Waters was making with this book. He finally makes a conclusive argument in the final chapter, but I personally didn’t think his stance was that clear in the rest of the book.

I think his argument got a bit lost, and I have to say, whilst I think I could now relate some specific incidents and people of interest, I don’t think I’ve finished this book feeling like I learned that much about witchcraft in the UK than I did before I picked it up. I also struggled because Waters kept on harking back to the Victorian period - or earlier periods of the 20th century - when he was meant to be talking about more recent decades. I also thought some parts - particularly in the chapter focusing on witchcraft and child abuse - slid into being overly gratuitous in a way that felt exploitative and was, for me, unnecessary.

It’s definitely got some interesting parts - the discussions around faith and belief, for example - but on the whole I found the book a little dry and the actual point of the book got a little bit lost in amongst the anecdotes and recounting newspaper and court documents.

Content Notes: Warnings: References throughout to violence, mob violence, murder, harassment, intimidation, witch trials, colonialism and colonialist violence, imperialism and imperialist violence, graphic descriptions of child abuse (physical, emotional, neglect), descriptions of torture including torture of a child, discussions of ritual murder.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cursed Britain unveils the enduring power of witchcraft, curses and black magic in modern times. Few topics are so secretive or controversial. Yet, whether in the 1800s or the early 2000s, when disasters struck or personal misfortunes mounted, many Britons found themselves believing in things they had previously dismissed – dark supernatural forces.

This book can be dense, and it definitely focuses on the history of witchcraft which is interesting, but I was more pulled to this book by its mention of magic in modern times, I must admit. The author mentions an incredible amount of sources of tales and stories in history about witches, or in this context just women who seem to be them and how the reaction to their supposed powers - it also focuses on where those beliefs stemmed from, particularly in rural communities and how stories would travel and become a social norm.

Waters is clearly an expert in his field and it does show in this book he pulls together an incredible amount of information in this book to especially give us a keen look into Victorian Magic in particular and many moments in this book gave me a fresh perspective on magic that made it an absorbing read in moments, particularly ‘Magic In The British Empire’ and the more modern chapters where we see more modern stories of people believing black magic is happening to them and the shift in public opinion around Magic’s existence.

If you like the subject, you will love this book, but it does seem to generalise witchcraft to just being about quackery, wheras I feel there must be examples historically of practicing witches? Witchcraft here seems to be watered down too, to include psychics for example, which are not witches? I just feel more could be done here, even going to practicing witches might have built this book to even better things. I would say this book is one to go back to, to build your knowledge from and find more sources and the incredible amount of notes will certainly I think help you there.

(I received an ARC from Netgalley for honest review).

[Izzy Mackintosh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is certainly well researched and has a great many sources. (As evidenced by the 60 odd pages of references). And the subject matter is certainly interesting.

That's about as far as my positive feedback can go. For the most part this book just reads as a regurgitating list of facts. At times it is quite repetitive and often paragraphs are just lists of names and places. The sheer length of some of the sentences is impressive. There's little attention paid to making these stories narratively engaging or even really humanised in some parts. There are glimpses at what could be more interesting stories, especially later in the book but these seem to be glossed over in favour of the aforementioned lists. It would have been nice to have more than 1.5 pages on the development of Wicca for example. Overall it makes it a slog to read and strips a lot of the human interest from the book.


And then considering the "controversial" aspects. Namely the fact the author spends most the book talking about women and the horrible things that had been done to them. But spends only a handful of pages even considering that gender had anything to do with it. He begrudgingly assigns a couple of lines to acknowledging feminist theory before dismissing them out of hand. I understand this isn't a book about feminist theory, but given the attention to detail and thoroughness of the rest of the book this section is glaring in it's lack of care.

All in all this book could have been a fascinating read. But as it is, it was an occasionally infuriating slog. TBH in the end I skimmed the last few chapters because I just could not keep slogging through it.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Truly offensive. Yale University Press, what were you thinking?!?! This book solely equated witchcraft with black magic. Attempts were made to distance Wicca and the New Age from the topic of this book, but were referenced extensively and included as examples of malicious intent. Reference to “alternative healers”, for example. This book reads like the historical tomes of a superstitious-against-superstition fundamentalist Christian who wishes to force the government (“targeted government regulation”) to outlaw all hints of witchcraft, alternative healing, herbalism, and New Age spirituality. Is the book well-researched? Yes and no. There is hyper-focus on some topics, like Victorian curses, and under-focus on others, like the 1 3/4ths pages dedicated to Wicca. Cunning folk and wise women are reduced merely to their “curse cutting” abilities with little focus on the good they did through herbalism and healing. One cannot reduce a movement to its lowest common denominator, demand government regulation, and be considered any less than a bigot. Why not ask for government regulation of Christianity, since the Pentecostal movement has contributed to such child abuse, or regulation of Hindu or Muslim faiths with their fear of jinn or djinn spirits? There is a shadow side to every spiritual path. This book does more harm than good in its solely negative pursuit of superstition and its curated focus on the most negative to promote Waters’ apparently skewed agenda. I read every page, and the conclusion particularly curdled my stomach. Yale, do better.

[Harri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Yale University Press and Netgalley for the Advanced Reader’s Copy.
Cursed Britain: A History of Witchcraft and Black Magic in Modern Times by Thomas Waters is an extremely informative piece of literature. Waters provides an excellent and informed account of the history of witchcraft within Britain. And, whilst the book can be heavy going in some parts, it has clearly been well researched.
Personally, I believe that this book would better suit the advanced, more knowledgeable reader rather than a novice of the topic or someone with just a passing interest. Though the academia of the book may be deduced from its publisher, Yale University Press, the cover style does seem to suggest otherwise. I feel many will be surprised at the dense level of detail that the author uses.
The book covers an extensive period of time, leaving the reader with a well-rounded picture of events. However, despite what the title may suggest, it is weighted slightly more towards the history of witchcraft, as opposed to how it translates to the “modern times”. However, this should not dissuade readers, as the information provided is presented in a manner that is both enlightening and informative.
Overall, this book provides an interesting look at Britain and its history of witchcraft and black magic. It should be seen as a supplement to the reader’s understanding of the subject matter, and not a book in which to gain a foundation of knowledge.

[stephanie suh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witchcraft as popular belief system may sound anachronistic, if not extinct, in our age of the Internet, Satellite TVs, and planned colonization of the Moon, in the same way that people in Renaissance regarded the Medieval times culturally backward and religiously superstitious. Yet, it has survived the leaps of time and waves of persecution, withstanding like a flickering candlelight in hours of stormy dark nights and remains in modern landscapes of buildings, cars, airplanes, and people with mobile phones on their hands. Thomas Waters in his Cursed Britain: A History of Witchcraft and Black Magic in Modern Times tells us how this ancient belief system of faith-based healing at its lightest and of maleficent bewitching at its darkest has kept its vitality from the rural areas of provinces to the bustling streets of cities in Great Britain throughout the centuries based on his extensive research of historical documents and scholarly analysis on the uncanny but very real phenomena that grips your attention on every page of this fascinating book. If you are keen on historical facts and anthropological evidence of human nature in relation to the ancient esoteric knowledge that looks so appealing and tempting, this is an excellent book.

[The Shakti Witch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to agree with the other reviews of this book that the title does not match the content. This is not modern, nor exclusively British. Nor does it really investigate witchcraft and demonology. What it is though is a lot of published newspaper articles during Victorian times. All of them are most usually about women afflicted with mental illness or persecuted by the local villagers. All of this is presented with the obligatory foot notes which makes for a not particularly enjoyable reading experience and I found it rather jumbled and hard to follow at times.

The author then goes on to suggest the decline of witchcraft during the 20th century but does not mention Gerald Gardner and associates for instance. Suddenly toward the end of the book there is a note on witchcraft and the internet. Again depicted negatively in relation to online shopping.

I’m unsure of the purpose of this book? Is meant to discount magickal practices? If you are after a serious look at the history of witchcraft there is better reading available but if you are interested in how witchcraft was perceived by mainstream media this will be of interest. I did enjoy it for the news clipping research which was kind of fascinating.

*eArc provided by the publisher and NetGalley

[Marcia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why is this book title so misleading? I got this expecting to see some juicy stuff on whats going down with witchcraft today and get some sensible info on black magic No,instead what I got was a huge boring book on stuff from Victorian times and ramblings about the British empire.I skipped into the second part hoping for something about whats happening in modern times..apparently not much at all! Had to ask my dad about the Occult scene during the 1970 to today and he says that this book claim of a modest interest in magic then is rubbish because there were tons of mags,books and groups all over the country and the newspapers were full of reports of Satanists and Witches.So it was the best time for growing interest yet nothing about any of that in this book.
This is of no use to anyone except people who want to read about Victorian newspaper cuttings of those who thought they were cursed or something over 100 years ago.
Really annoyed I wasted my money on this.