The Ipswich Witch

Against the backdrop of the largest witch hunt in English history, this book is both an investigation of a miscarriage of justice 366 years old and an in-depth recreation of East Anglia as it once was. Ipswich, faced by the extreme challenges of war, religious dissent, poverty, sickness and the threat of foreign invasion, became an ideological battlefield during the civil wars. As Puritanism struggled against Catholic sensibilities, the Devil himself loomed at the door of every English home, and the age of the witchfinder was born. This book aims to challenge some of our stereotypes of the period, and to show how witch hunts do not stand apart from history but reflect the growth in Puritan sects, gender politics, the exploitation of the poor, the importance of popular beliefs in the occult and the rise of English power in the New world. Written by David L. Jones of the Ipswich Museum, and inspired by his time living in rural Nepal, where witchcraft is considered an everyday reality, it will fascinate visitors and residents alike.