Cursed Britain

"The amount of material Waters has unearthed is impressive, especially given the deliberate invisibility of witchcraft's practitioners. His book is a salutary reminder that the modern world is not immune to superstition"- Robert Leigh-Pemberton, Daily Telegraph

"[The book] is admirably wide-ranging, none the less, offering a survey of magic from the beginning of the 19th century until the present day, clearly demonstrating its ubiquity, its importance, and its persistence" - William Whyte, Church Times

"Waters has...produced a magnificent history of 19th and 20th-century British witchcraft."-Simon Young, Times Higher Education



"Waters will certainly get his readers thinking."-Ceri Houlbrook, The Canadian Journal of History

"There are many histories of witchcraft and magic, but this one is distinguished by its impressive scholarship, compelling narratives and good writing."-Fortean Times

"A timely account of the ebb and flow of belief in the black arts in modern times. It's fascinating, well-researched and utterly compelling."-Michelle Paver, author of Wakenhyrst

"This is one of those pioneering studies which immediately establishes a mastery of its field. It is broad, adventurous, subtle, painstaking and in places perhaps controversial: at once a glittering debut and a monument of scholarship."-Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch

"Built around numerous intriguing case studies, Cursed Britain charts the continued fear of witchcraft and harmful magic in Britain and beyond over the last two centuries. Authoritative and engaging, Waters' book explores and explains why we should seek to understand the magical beliefs of our recent ancestors, and also requires us to reflect on the continued belief in malign forces."-Owen Davies, author of A Supernatural War

"An important and timely investigation into how malevolent magic and counter magic has survived, adapted, declined, and revived in the modern age. This is also a very human history of fear, power, influence and imagination. Fascinating."- Karl Bell, author of The Magical Imagination