2017 books: 55-57

[the_siobhan]

    

The European Witch-Craze of the 16th and 17th Centuries by HR Trevor-Roper The author recounts the history of the witch hunts and theorizes on the social forces that caused them to happen at different times in different countries. He compares those led by the Protestant and Catholic churches and draws a parallel with anti-Jewish pogroms right up to the 20th century.

This was written in the '60s so the style is very formal and it's more of a scholarly record than one intended for the general public. Interesting stuff and very dense reading.




    

The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff Hoff does not like Eeyore. He labels the donkey a "complainer" for lamenting how cold his field is. To his friends. Who live in houses. Then Hoff spends the rest of the chapter complaining about schools, journalists, feminism, gender-neutral language and Kids These Days.

I still don't know anything about Te.

    

The Serpent and the Goddess: Women, Religion, and Power in Celtic Ireland by Mary Condren This was a gift from my daughter. I'm still in the process of reading it, but I'm going to count it towards my 2017 total. Condren is a Professor in the humanities department of Trinity College in Dublin. In this book she writes about how the role of women in society and the view of women in religion has changed from prehistory up to the present day. Her focus is Celtic Ireland, but she does tie in other cultures to make some of her points. She's a good writer and lays out her points very clearly.