Europe's Inner Demons is a fascinating account of how some generally harmless traditions and superstitions combined to make the massive witch hunts of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries possible. There are no conclusive figures, but it is generally agreed that several thousands of men, women and children were executed during this period across Western Europe. With the only exception of England, where this phenomenon never really caught on, this was a widespread practice in countries as different as Spain, Portugal, Scotland, Sweden, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands and particularly in France and Germany. But how did it all begin? Why was Eastern Europe and the rest of the world virtually untouched by this phenomenon? And how did the educated classes came to believe the ancient peasant superstitions that allowed the Great Witch Hunt to take place?

You'll find all the answers in Norman Cohn's stunning piece of historical detective work; an exhaustively researched and brilliantly written book that doesn't deal with the Great Witch Hunt itself but with the societies and traditions were it originated, in some cases stretching as far back as classical Greece and Rome. Also prominent are the persecutions of members of several heretical sects throughout Middle Ages and even religious orders like the Templars. Norman Cohn also analyses the works of modern "specialist" like Margaret Murray and Montague Summers and concludes that the reality was more complex and definitely less glamorous than they thought.

Norman Cohn's Europe's Inner Demons (The Demonization of Christians in Medieval Christendom) originally came out in 1975 and is a nice companion piece to his Pursuit of the Millennium book. It has remained in print because it is a sober analysis of the fantasies behind the persecutions of such dissenting Christians as the Waldensians which led horribly to the great witch-hunts of the early modern period. The author helps remove much of the scholary nonsense that had accumulated onto the historical concept of witches in the past two centuries and puts them into their proper historical context. The book begins with a wonderfully enlightening glimpse of antiquity that is both illuminating and horrifying as the later fantasies against witches are first seen being used by Romans against early Christians. This is a well-argued and presented book that deserves to remain in circulation as long as people continue to believe there was truth behind the accusations direct at these persecuted and demonized Christians of the Middle Ages. A superb book.

Witch-hunts have erupted again and again throughout the history of Western civilization. The accusations are remarkably similar and stable over time. A group of "witches" or "devil worshippers" are accused of sacrificing and eating children, engaging in incestuous orgies, and worshipping a "god" in animal form who presides over the obscene rituals. The first such accusations were leveled against the early Christians, culminating in a bloody persecution in the (then) Roman city of Lyons. The most recent example occurred in the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s, when similar accusations were made against teachers and child-care workers across the United States in the "daycare ritual abuse panic" that included the McMartin, Country Walk, and Kelly Michaels cases. In "Europe's Inner Demons", Norman Cohn shows how the "fantasy" of witch-cults grew and took shape during the early Christian era, leading to persecutions of heretics such as the Waldensians, orthodox Catholic Crusaders such as the Order of the Knights Templar, and finally the Great European Witch Hunt, which eventually spilled over into North America in the famous Salem Witch Trials. This is one of the most informative books on witchcraft available, elegantly written, and relatively short. It will appeal to anyone who is seriously interested in witch-craft, organized persecutions, or the history of religious thought. More importantly, it will provide a deeper understanding of the "fantasy" of witch sects and bloody satanic cults that still lives in our own country and our own time.

Norman Cohn has the superb ability to bring together obscure pieces of history and thought in a readable way. This book follows well on from his other books in showing how a particular episode in literature can be viewed differently over time. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in where their current thinking might be coming from.

As a Geographer and an Anthropologist I am thrilled by that book. Norman Cohn's historical analysis of the Deluge interpretations leads to a better understanding of Science, and how the conditions (i.e. contextualization) of its production shapes knowledge. I will put it in my graduate students'reading list, and in my "best books"bookshelf

A masterpiece. This book, first published in 1975, still remains one of the best one can turn to for an analysis of the background for the witch hunts in the early modern age. Norman Cohn did a fine demolition job on the nonsense written by Margaret Murray (and, for that matter, Jules Michelet and Montague Summers) on the same subject. A very coherent picture, covering the period of late Antiquity to the 15th century, is presented. The line of reasoning remains crystal clear, while at the same time detailed insight into key incidents (the persecution and trials of the Waldensians, Cathars, Fraticelli, Knights Templar, Pope Boniface VIII, Lady Alice Kyteler) is given. They constitute some of the building blocks for the view that while the ingredients for the "complete" witches' sabbath as it was imagined during the early modern period were already present long before, a number of triggers was necessary to link them effectively together. An important factor was the shift from the accusatory to the inquisitorial legal procedure. I also like the image of the militant optimism of early Christianism (assured of the Devil's limited power vis-a-vis the adherents of the true faith) as opposed to a worn out Christian Europe on the brink of the Reformation, imagining itself to be surrounded by almost omnipotent demons and witches.

Norman Cohn contines his exemplary work as a historian of religious history with Cosmos, Chaos and the World to Come (The Ancient Roots of Apolcalytic Faith). This book begins a little drier than his previous works but picks up speed nicely with his discussions of Zorastrianism, Judaism, and very early Christianity while showing the connections between the former and the latter two in terms of its prophetic, apocalyptic writings. This book makes a nice companion piece to this author's earlier and seminal work on millenniarism during the medieval period. A fine addition to the Cohn canon.

I am a longstanding fan of Cohn's writings. I read this book in a day, finding it extremely lucid and informative. It brought the cosmologies of the ancient world alive, showing how their underlying themes make sense to everyday lives of the time.

Surely the best book available if you want to get a insight into the ideas that led to the development of Christianity.

The wonderful Norman Cohn has created an interesting and important book examining revolutionary messianism in medieval and Reformation Europe. It was not quite as good as Norman Cohn's Europe's Inner Demons (a very high benchmark, indeed) but it posesses the same potent ability to chart accurately and interestely a trend from the past in its own historical context and then to demonstrate to the reader the ways in which this knowledge is important for an understanding within our own historical period. He cleanly takes the reader through the various millenial movements in a way that is both entertaining, informative, and, best of all, understandable. The adept mind of an historian blended with the skill of a writer. A good book.

The apocalyptic imagination has always exercised great control over the mind of the Western man - from bands of Jewish zealots in the time of Josephus to the masses of poor warriors in the Crusades to take the Holy Land for Christendom to the mutual hurling of the epithet "Antichrist" between Luther and the Pope, and it has been keenly expressed in the Biblical tradition within the Books of Daniel and Revelations. _The Pursuit of the Millennium_ takes a look at the mass movements and delusions that developed out of this tradition in the Middle Ages and the period following the Middle Ages, the Reformation. Norman Cohn shows how prejudices and hatreds among the poor (especially against the Jews, the clergy, and the wealthy) were used by mystical prophetae in conjunction with the apocalyptic tradition to give rise to mass movements which resulted in much mayhem and bloodshed. For example, the People's and Shepherd's Crusades in the Middle Ages were movements of mindless zealotry which ended in mass slaughter. Cohn examines various sects that developed out of these apocalyptic traditions around such figures as the Emperor Frederick, Joachim of Fiore, and various other individuals and imposters who sought to mobilize the masses of poor. In the later Middle Ages, this type of movement was exemplified among the flagellants, the Brethren of the Free Spirit, Taborites and followers of Thomas Muntzer, the militant wing of the Anabaptists, and later the Ranters in England. Often, these movements incorporated Joachimite speculations about a coming Age of the Spirit, mystical doctrines that made one was free to sin as one pleased (Free Spirit), and communistic ideals that involved belief in a Golden Age in which all men had lived as brothers with all things in common. Class struggle between rich and poor, or between poor and clergy (who were often contaminated by the sins of Avaritia and Luxuria) developed into all out wars. The belief that the apostles had lived in poverty and that God had intended all men to live in a communistic setting gave impetus to many individuals to reject church orthodoxy and form their own apocalyptic movements. These movements depended on the poor who held steadfastly to their often megalomanical leaders in their pursuit of messianic ideals and the coming of the millennium. Cohn does an excellent job of describing this process in detail and deals with much of the mysticism and myth surrounding it.

In the modern era, it is apparent that millenarian zeal has not died off at all. The communist revolutions in Russia and the rise of the Third Reich in Germany were both movements in the same line as these earlier mass movements in the Middle Ages. While they have shed much of the apocalyptic myth and become atheistic, the same principles were involved in their formation, and in the formation of similar movements that continue in the world today.

A friend recommended this to me as 'a great read' and I also recommend it to you for the same reason. It is rare that a work can be appreciated for its academic value, and for pure fascination. Who could not but be fascinated by the medieval flagellants, the Taborites, Joachim of Fiore, the Tafurs, the Anabaptists and the Ranters. Some groups awaited the returned of the Emperor Constantine, or Frederick Barbarossa, or even the Duke of Flanders, to herald the last days. Other preached, and practised, Free Love, and community of goods. Startingly, the Anabaptists of Munster (Germany) withstood a lengthy siege for their beliefs, while what was happening inside the walls of the city seemed to prefigure the regime of Stalin. Important to recall the limitations of medieval Catholicism, which drove many into fringe sects, and eventually helped spawn the Reformation. Not that the Protestant princes were any more sympathetic to the Prophets of the Poor. For an academic book, this is also fun to read, though its subject in places in quite grisly.

_Warrant for Genocide_ by Norman Cohn provides the reader with an excellent history of the notorious forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", the myth of the Jewish world conspiracy, and a general history of some of the antiSemitic movements. Ever popular among occultists, antiSemites, fringe politicals, NeoNazis, and conspiracy theorists, the infamous "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" have an intriguing history. Norman Cohn begins by tracing the idea of Jewish world conspiracy to early nominally Christian apocalyptic movements. To the orthodox Christian, apocalypticism represents a heretical movement which seeks to give rise to the Kingdom of God on Earth. During the French Revolution, rumors abounded concerning mysterious groups of "Illuminati" initiates and Freemasonic cults. The French Jesuit, Abbe Barruel, wrote about his experiences with the Illuminati, and the Freemasonic lodges were blame for the terror of the French Revolution. Basing their philosophy on Enlightenment principles and rejecting the authority of tradition, the monarchy, and the Catholic Church, the Freemasons and the Illuminati were notorious for their role in instigating subversion. It was against this background of paranoia that various antiSemitic pamphlets began to circulate many of which attempted to link the Jews with the Freemasons in a plot for world conquest. For instance, mysterious letters from various rabbis were produced which claimed that the Jews should infiltrate Christian European society so as to further their own schemes for world domination. Traditionally seen as an agent of Satan, the Jews were an easy target for various antiSemitic European individuals who often concocted such "letters" as a joke. It was amidst this environment of antiSemitism and hostility towards Jews and Freemasons that the "Protocols" document was forged. Between 1903 and 1907, the "Protocols" document circulated among the Russian intelligentsia and among the Russian press. In his book _The Great in the Small, the occultist Sergey Nilus provided his theories on the Jewish conspiracy and the imminent arrival of Antichrist as well as including a copy of the "Protocols". Norman Cohn explains how the "Protocols" document is a historical forgery which may have been based on the text of _Dialogue aux Enfers entre Montesquieu et Machiavel_ by the French lawyer Maurice Joli. The "Protocols" basically outline a plan for Jewish infiltration of Christian society and eventual take-over based upon the philosophy that "Might is Right". Cohn then proceeds to outline how the Russian tsarist secret police, the Okrhana, developed an interest in the "Protocols" and explains the rise of a pre-fascist movement, the Black Hundreds, in Russia. Interestingly, the swastika symbol was used among initiates in the Black Hundreds movement as a symbol of opposition to Jews. When the Tsar and Tsaritsa were found dead, a copy of the book _The Great in the Small_ and a drawing of the swastika symbol was found among the Tsaritsa's personal effects. Instances such as these led to many populist uprisings. In the showdown between the Russian "Whites" (loyalists to the tsar and the empire) and the Bolsheviks in the Russian revolution, the "Protocols" played an important role among the reactionary Whites. Cohn then proceeds to show how the "Protocols" reached Germany and eventually made their way around the world. Propagated by such individuals as Alfred Rosenberg, the Nazi theorist and writer of the book _The Myth of the Twentieth Century_, during the Nazi era, the "Protocols" played an important part in the ideology of the Nazis and were used by Hitler in his schemes for constructing the Third Reich. Other individuals associated with the "Protocols" or antiSemitism including the American industrialist Henry Ford, who wrote the notorious book popular among Nazis _The International Jew_ (although he later would repent of his antiSemitism), and the Depression era Catholic priest Father Charles Coughlin. Norman Cohn's book provides an interesting history of the various subversive movements which used the "Protocols" to further their own brand of hatred. Also, the book is interesting for its understanding of the phenomenon of antiSemitism. Norman Cohn includes a chapter in which he analyzes the role of paranoia and antiSemitism in the mental instabilities of different individuals and entire cultures. Antisemitism may indeed be a form of psychological aberration. In today's world, the "Protocols" have again by ressurrected by different occult and conspiracy groups as well as NeoNazis and Islamic extremists seeking to justify their terroristic activities. Whatever the "Protocols" may indicate about the nature of the human animal, it is most likely something very sinister and disturbing. This is a good book which might provide an understanding and a bridge towards development away from antiSemitism.

Also recommended: Nicholas Goodrick-Clark and Hannah Arendt's _The Origins of Totalitarianism_.

"Warrant For Genocide" declares that, whilst only about one third of all civilians killed by the Nazis were Jews, it was the Jewish people that were uniquely marked out for extermination.

It further declares that the Jewish people were not just simply killed or worked to death, but were sought out, humiliated, hunted, persecuted and tortured with an intensity of hatred uniquely reserved for them alone.

This even though the Jews as a people did not constitute a belligerent nation, or even a nation at all, but lived scattered in their own communities throughout Europe, yet suffered a hatred beyond any scope of normality and totally disproportionate to their number or any perceived threat.

This book investigates some issues which might serve to explain some of that hatred. A hatred that unfortunately still exists to this day. A hatred that not only still affects the Jews that still reside in European or international communities, but also those Jews who now live in their own homeland of Israel. A hatred that is perhaps now more prevalent than at any time since the aforementioned Nazi regimes that murdered so many.

The author here examines the myth of Jewish world conspiracy and the notorious forgery known as the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' and the effects of these myths upon society, public opinion, anti-Semitism and pertaining to the Holocaust itself.

At the Berne trial in 1935, being shown as a proven hoax, the "Protocols" still sold 120,000 copies in Germany in the period of just one year. With some 17 million Germans casting their votes to the Nazis in 1933, the author shows how the absurd myth of a Jewish conspiracy combined with a prevalent racist ideology did much to produce the Holocaust.

The author points out that these abhorrent myths have not died out and their resultant hatreds still raise their ugly heads. Even today, some areas of the Middle East grant official state approved media publication to these same issues that have caused so much animosity and bloodshed.

Highly recommended read to assess the impact of these myths, their historical and present perspectives and anti-Semitism as an issue in it's own right.

The New York Times of October 26, 2002 tells us, in a front-page story, that "Anti-Semitic 'Elders of Zion' Gets New Life on Egypt TV." So now, almost 60 years after the downfall of Hitler, his favorite book and his favorite mania are once more resurrected. What to do ? The first thing surely is to consult the most scholarly study of the topic, by a namesake of mine (but no relative). I first purchased this volume in a Pelican edition back in 1976. Since then I have read much on the notorious "Protocols," but nothing else can compare to this outstanding treatment by one of the great historians on the 20th century.

i think that i can not be a very good judge of this book. i do not read a whole lot, so it seemed pretty boring, but i really wouldnt know.