The Enemy Within: 2,000 Years of Witch-Hunting in the Western World
by John Demos
First Published: 2008
10 Copies & Reading Guide
The term “witch-hunt” is used today to describe everything from political scandals to school board shake-ups. But its origins are far from trivial. Long before the Salem witch trials, women and men were rounded up by neighbors, accused of committing horrific crimes using supernatural powers, scrutinized by priests and juries, and promptly executed. In this book, historian John Demos, takes readers from the early Christians persecuted in Rome through the Salem witch trials, McCarthy’s hunt for communists, and the hysteria around child sex-abuse cases and satanic cults in the 1980s
Reading Guide:
LitLovers – Discussion Questions for Nonfiction Titles
Reviews:
The New York Times – “Crucibles” by Germaine Greer
The Seattle Times – “Fascinating Thread in Witch Hunts” by Kimberly Marlowe Hartnett
On the Web:
The New York Times (1995) – “Entertaining the Devil in Connecticut” by Bill Ryan
On Point with Tom Ashbrook – “A History of Witch-Hunts” – Radio show and Read an Excerpt
More About:
The Salem Witchcraft Trials – from University of Missouri’s Douglas O. Linder
McCarthyism and the Witch Hunt – from The Cold War Museum
If you enjoyed The Enemy Within, you might like:
The Naked Quaker (Book Club Kit) by Diane Rapaport
The Lace Reader (Book Club Kit) by Brunonia Barry
The Crucible (Book Club Kit) by Arthur Miller
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
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