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Overview‘A brilliant book, written with wit and vigour’ MALCOLM GASKILL ‘Absolutely fascinating’ IAN MORTIMER Tabitha Stanmore transports us to a time when magic was used to navigate life's challenges and solve problems of both trivial and deadly importance. It’s 1600 and you’ve lost your precious silver spoons, or maybe they’ve been stolen. Perhaps your child has a fever. Or you’re facing trial. Maybe you’re looking for love or escaping a husband. What do you do? In medieval and early modern Europe, your first port of call might have been cunning folk: practitioners of ‘service magic’. Neither feared (like witches), nor venerated (like saints), these people were essential: a ubiquitous presence at a time when the supernatural was surprisingly mundane and a cherished everyday resource. We meet lovelorn widows, selfless healers and renegade monks; we listen in on Queen Elizabeth I’s astrology readings and track treasure hunters who try to keep peace with fairies. Much like us, premodern people lived in bewildering times, buffeted by forces beyond their control – and their faith in magic has much to teach us about how we accommodate ourselves to the irrational in our allegedly enlightened lives today. Charming in every sense of the word, Cunning Folk is an immersive reconstruction of a bygone world and a thought-provoking commentary on the beauty and bafflement of being human. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Tabitha StanmorePublisher: Vintage Publishing Imprint: The Bodley Head Ltd Dimensions: Width: 16.10cm , Height: 2.60cm , Length: 24.20cm Weight: 0.484kg ISBN: 9781847927316ISBN 10: 1847927319 Pages: 288 Publication Date: 02 May 2024 Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General , Tertiary & Higher Education Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print  This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsReviewsThe best introduction to late medieval and early modern popular magic yet written ... Comprehensive, humane, lively, and a great read * Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch * A fascinating and intricately researched book that opens a window into another world * Tracy Borman, author of Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I * Absolutely fascinating. Cunning Folk is a much-needed book that draws attention to a little-known but important aspect of daily life. Like all good history books, it tells us about ourselves as well as the past. It will both inform and inspire readers * Ian Mortimer, author of Medieval Horizons * This isn't just a book; it's a window on the hopes and passions and lives of Europe five centuries ago. We know the horror film version of magic - sinister friars, severed heads, murder dolls and rings with strange powers. Tabitha Stanmore adds the rich, human version, the reasons that made people seek out magic in the first place. Her fresh and fascinating account introduces the scammers and heroines who used practical magic to win back lovers, kingdoms, even lost cutlery. More remarkably, we hear the stories of the women and men who needed their help, a whole treasure house of long lost private lives * Michael Pye, author of The Edge of the World * I adore Cunning Folk. A truly fascinating and human book. * Ruth Goodman, author of The Domestic Revolution * Absolutely fascinating. Cunning Folk is a much-needed book that draws attention to a little-known but important aspect of daily life. Like all good history books, it tells us about ourselves as well as the past. It will both inform and inspire readers * Ian Mortimer, author of Medieval Horizons * The best introduction to late medieval and early modern popular magic yet written ... Comprehensive, humane, lively, and a great read * Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch * A fascinating and intricately researched book that opens a window into another world * Tracy Borman, author of Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I * This isn't just a book: it's a window on the hopes, passions and lives of Europe five centuries ago. We know the horror film version of magic. Tabitha Stanmore - uncovering a whole treasure house of long-lost private lives - adds the rich, fresh, human version * Michael Pye, author of The Edge of the World * I adore Cunning Folk. A truly fascinating and human book * Ruth Goodman, author of The Domestic Revolution * The best introduction to late medieval and early modern popular magic yet written ... Comprehensive, humane, lively, and a great read * Prof. Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch * Author InformationTabitha Stanmore is a social historian of magic and witchcraft at the University of Exeter. She is part of the Leverhulme-funded Seven County Witch-Hunt Project, and her doctoral thesis was published as Love Spells and Lost Treasure: Service Magic in England from the Later Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period. She has featured on Radio 3’s Free Thinking and BBC 4’s Plague Fiction, and her writing has been published in the Conversation. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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