Strange Histories presents a serious account of some of the most extraordinary occurrences of European and North American history and explains how they made sense to people living at the time.
From grisly anecdotes about ghosts, to stories ofwitches and werewolves, the book uses case studies from the Middle Ages and the early modern period and provides fascinating insights into the world-view of a vanished age. It shows how suchoccurences fitted in quite naturally with the common sense of the time and offersexplanations of these riveting and ultimately rational phenomena.
What made reasonable, educated men and women behave in ways that seem utterly nonsensical to us today? This question and many more are answered in the fascinating book.