Book Review: When We Spoke to the Dead: How Ghosts Gave American Women Their Voice

In Europe, 1848 was the year of revolutions, where people in more than 50 countries were engaged in socioeconomic conflicts. In the United States, the revolt may have started slowly, with a mysterious knocking sound in rural western New York, and lasted longer. Out of weird rapping noises—that supposedly allowed the dead to speak—came the Spiritualist movement. And it was mostly controlled by women.

Ilise S. Carter, author of When We Spoke to the Dead: How Ghosts Gave American Women Their Voice, takes a historic look into the movement and what it begat.

Spiritualism’s central idea is that the human spirit lived on after the mortal remains died and that spirits could communicate with us through mediums. In an era of high mortality rates and the horror of the Civil War, the movement flourished. With its popularity on the stage circuit in the late 19^th century, however, fraudulent actors tarnished the movement’s reputation. That led to the defining doctrine, the Principles of Spiritualism. About 100 Spiritualist churches and camps still exist in the United States.

Carter’s book covers spiritualism’s connections to reform, including anti-slavery, women’s rights, and suffrage. She includes stories of known spiritualists (Maggie & Kate Fox, patent medicine maker Lydia Pinkham, Mae West), believers (First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), and critics (Harry Houdini), as well as trivia about Disney’s Haunted Mansion and the Ouija board.

Thanks to Sourcebooks for the ARC.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

When We Spoke to the Dead: How Ghosts Gave American WomenTheir Voice
by Ilise S. Carter
Sourcebooks 2025

Book review: William Phipps and the Diving Bell Bubble

Before reading William Phipps and the Diving Bell Bubble by Leon Hopkins, I considered Phipps a shadowy figure in the Salem witch trials. He wasn’t actively involved and yet his arrival with the new Charter led to the formation of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, followed by guilty verdicts and the deaths of 20 innocent people. 

In October 1692, Phipps closed the court, tossed out spectral evidence, and in January 1693 opened the new Superior Court of Judicature. Within days, Phipps decisively shut down the witch trials after Judge William Stoughton issued execution warrants for several women whose earlier trials resulted in guilty verdicts that relied on spectral evidence.

Hopkins’ book showed Phipps (1651-1695) had the strength of character to get into situations which, in many cases, were beyond his experience and training. For an unschooled Maine backwoodsman, he fraternized with powerful men, even royalty. 

For a person with no military experience, he was hired to lead military campaigns in Acadia and Quebec. And for a non-government man, he ended up as a royal governor. Some would say these leaps in prospects happened because Phipps discovered the rich treasures of a Spanish galleon, and being required to share a percentage of that loot with the English monarch, earned a knighthood from King James II. 

But that’s not giving credit where credit is due. Phipps rescued his neighbors during an Indian raid in 1676, sailing them into Boston harbor on a ship he built. He attracted wealthy supporters through joint-stock companies to finance his treasure hunting. He married an enterprising widow who could hold her own while he was at sea or in England for months or years at a time. And he won the admiration of Rev. Cotton Mather, who wrote his biography.

At times, the book gets bogged down in tangential topics like the English Civil Wars and Cromwell or John Eliot (1604-1690), the Puritan missionary to the American Indians, and the Pequot Wars (1636-1638). Still, those topics connect to later events and people in Phipps’ life. Hopkins also drops curious historical tidbits—like the imposter royal heir, a secret deal between two monarchs on a Catholic conversion—that especially American readers may not know.

Thanks to Pen & Sword History for the ARC.

Rating: ★★★★

William Phipps and the Diving Bell Bubble 
by Leon Hopkins
Pen & Sword History, 2025

Book review: Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus

In Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus, Elaine Pagels delves into the Gospels, the first four books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Based on critical literary and historical analysis, these books were written anonymously 40 to 70 years after Jesus’ death. But, Pagels says, their intent was not to document history or write a biography but to “spread good news about faith in Jesus.”

With Sunday school, an illustrated Bible, hymns and Christmas songs, children learn about Jesus’ life from start to finish. But the Bible isn’t so linear. It was “a huge effort to pull all four Gospels together, as if they tell a single story,” Pagels explains. These books have some similarities and curious differences. For example, Matthew and Luke mention the birth of Jesus, but Mark and John do not. Matthew says the Magi follow the new star that proclaims the birth of the new king. Luke has no star and no Magi, but local herdsmen visit baby Jesus asleep in the manger.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke share similar content, order of events, and wording, which suggests they may have used common sources. However, the authors and the audiences were different. Mark, who wrote the earliest surviving account, was a devout Jew who believed in one God. Luke was a Gentile and became a (Jewish) convert. John, who Pagels calls the “radical revisionist writer,” is the one who explicitly says Jesus is the Son of God, whose sacrificial death atoned for the sins of the world. All of them use words of the Jewish prophets and the Psalms to prove Jesus’ life was foretold in Scriptures.

In 325 CE, Emperor Constantine gathered 300 bishops to formulate the Nicene Creed, the core Christian beliefs about the nature of God and the divinity of Christ—the basis of the Gospel of John. Over the decades that followed, church leaders and councils decided which doctrines and stories fit this overarching message. Of the many stories of Jesus that existed, few were chosen as scripture; the rest were destroyed.*

The Gospels remind us how Jesus lived, with love, compassion, and support for everyone. And, as Pagels declares, “In a world filled with challenge, oppression, and suffering, their stories shift—often suddenly—into hope.”

Miracles and Wonder is both the keystone and cornerstone to Pagels’ other books on early Christianity and the Gnostics. As a historian and religious scholar, she thoughtfully considers the historical mystery of Jesus and his message while adding personal stories and reflections on her life’s work.

Thanks to Doubleday for the ARC.

Rating: ★★★★★

Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus 
by Elaine Pagels
Doubleday, 2025

*Despite the decree, monks from Nag Hammadi hid some of the forbidden texts in caves. In 1945, these early Christian and Gnostic texts were discovered in a sealed jar. 

Book review: Heretic: Jesus Christ and the Other Sons of God

With the subtitle, “Jesus Christ and the Other Sons of God,” Catherine Nixey’s book Heretic is expected to raise eyebrows.

Greek and Roman writers, she says, created parodies of the many so-called prophets. To them, Jesus was just another claimant putting on the mantle of son of God. While in the marketplace, magicians, witches, and astrologers promised health cures, in the temples, people asked divine beings for help by offering miniature models of their afflicted anatomy. Some practitioners used tricks to make the blind see, the lame walk, and the dead rise because it helped businesses boom. So how could they tell if Jesus was the real deal?

Besides his message, what set Jesus apart was tradition. Yet Apollonius of Tyana (b. 15 CE, d. 100 CE) had a similar backstory: An angel visited his pregnant mother; the heavens marked his birth with a lightning bolt; he preached and gained followers; he raised the dead; the Romans put him on trial; he vanished, presumably died, and then reappeared to his followers. Nixey argues Jesus and Apollonius’ trials and deaths are foreshadowed by the philosopher Socrates (c. 470 BCE to 399 BCE).

There’s no doubt that the historical Jesus existed. Yet anomalies exist about his life in the New Testament, like two gospels claiming his virgin birth while other canonical books give Joseph the credit and provide his and Mary’s ancestry. As the cult of Jesus spread, some followers incorporated their own ideas and stories, plus bits of other faiths and spiritual leaders into their religion. 

(For more on the branches of Christianity, check out Lance Grande’s charts and text in The Evolution of Religions: A History of Related Traditions.)

At this juncture, I expected Nixey to slap back with how the New Testament created uniformity for Christian beliefs. She does explore the Apocrypha and the Nag Hammadi scrolls and how their stories add to the Bible. But I had hoped she’d mention how the official canon was chosen, why she thinks some books were not included, and tempt us with the possibility of secrets hidden in the Vatican Apostolic Archives or in undiscovered caves.

Instead, we read how Christianity grew exponentially when Emperor Constantine (c. 272 to 337 CE) converted to Christianity and how Roman roads carried the Christian message to the far reaches of the empire and beyond. And then, since she’s a classicist scholar, Nixey bemoans the great loss of Greek and Roman art, manuscripts, and buildings—destroyed by the Holy Roman Empire. Between that, the horror of the Crusades, the laws of persecution, and the unholy desire to control the world, I’d say the Church also stomped on Jesus’ main message: Love. 

The closing chapters show how Christianity tried to erase the classical world—its pantheon of gods, philosophy, science, medicine, law, literature, arts, and architecture—in deference to the Church’s desire for control and real estate. 

Heretic is a work of history not theology, as Nixey states in the author’s note. It’s written for popular audiences.

rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Heretic: Jesus Christ and the Other Sons of God
by Catherine Nixey
Mariner Books

Book review: The Resurrectionist

The Resurrectionist captures Edinburgh’s cobbled streets lined with gray buildings, the boisterous university students, the early morning fog, the bustle of tradespeople and travelers, the smell of beer. 

It’s 1828, and in defiance of his family’s wishes, James Willoughby embarks on a thrilling but ultimately dangerous adventure: to attend Edinburgh’s famed university to study medical science, whatever the cost. Soon, he is thrust into the darkly competitive world of body snatchers, to provide specimens to pay for the private anatomy school essential to his studies.

A. Rae Dunlap creates characters you care about, even though they’re involved in illicit and unethical acts—from James to the artistic dissectionist, the professional mourner, and the faithful lookout. As readers, we are rooting for them. That’s why The Resurrectionist is one of those gothic novels that’s hard to put down. It’s gory but good.

rating: ★★★★★

The Resurrectionist  
by A. Rae Dunlap
Kensington Publishing

Book review: Reproductive Rites: The Real-Life Witches and Witch Hunts in the Centuries-Long Fight for Abortion

Sophie Saint Thomas’ latest book tackles reproductive rights, systemic injustices, and lack of bodily autonomy issues for women throughout the ages. According to an old medical papyrus, she writes, it’s been proven that ancient Egyptians used birth control and emmenagogues or abortifacients. Through withdrawal, suppositories, barrier methods, and nature’s own herbal pharmacy, earlier peoples learned by trial and error how to limit or encourage pregnancies as needed.

While misogyny certainly existed back then, it grew exponentially with the Roman Empire converting to Christianity—and controlled by (purportedly) celibate, cloistered men. After all, German monk Martin Luther (95 Theses) said “let [women] bear children to death. … They were created for that.” Although Catholic church policy was against birth control, some leaders like Saint Augustine of Hippo believed abortion was acceptable before a clearly human shape formed or the “ensoulment” of a fetus occurred.

For witches, Saint Thomas includes French midwife, abortion provider, and fortuneteller Catherine Monvoisin, who also provided deadly poisons and performed Black Masses for her clients. She was burned at the stake for witchcraft in 1680. In more modern times, Laurie Cabot (b. 1933) was designated the Official Witch of Salem in 1977 by the Massachusetts governor.

For witch hunts, Saint Thomas relies on Stacy Schiff’s The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem—a book lambasted by Jane Kamensky in the New York Times—causing her to repeat debunked information. For example, trial documents refer to Tituba as an Indian servant. After being released from jail, she disappears from the historical record. She later becomes known as Tituba the Black Witch of Salem. Saint Thomas says, “this indicates that she was associated with black magic … [but] it could also have a more straightforward explanation: her skin color.” Fifty years ago, Chadwick Hansen proved that Tituba’s metamorphosis from an Indian to a Black person occurred and was based on prevalent 19th-century racism, which in turn made Tituba the scapegoat for the Salem witch trials (New England Quarterly, March 1974).

For centuries, witches have been associated with Satan, since the (female) witch’s power comes from her pact with the (male) Devil. Between Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, Saint Thomas shows how wild ideas about devil-worshipping sex groups, Black Masses, and child sacrifices became rampant in the news.

And that’s how the Christian right uses Americans’ fears to demonize any person or movement supporting reproductive rights.

Written in a pop-history style, Saint Thomas makes accessible 4,000 years of health care. With Roe v. Wade overturned in 2022, reproductive justice is on the ballot in 2024. The difference between Republican and Democratic platforms are starkly different. As a reminder, Saint Thomas points out that Justice Samuel Alito cited 17th-century jurist Matthew Hale when announcing the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. “Hale asserted that marital rape could not constitute a crime.” 

Your vote matters.

rating: ★★★★

Reproductive Rites: The Real-Life Witches and Witch Hunts in the Centuries-Long Fight for Abortion
by Sophie Saint Thomas
Running Press 

Book review: The Royal Palaces: Secrets and Scandals

With its beautiful watercolors, The Royal Palaces is the perfect keepsake for the places you’ve visited in Britain or ones that you wish to. But it’s more than that. Kate Williams is an expert on the British monarchy and she’s filled the pages with fascinating details—beyond when and which royals lived at each location, when it was built and in which architectural style, who made renovations, and if it’s still in use or in ruins and why.

For example, Windsor Castle was first built by William the Conqueror of 1066 fame and today is the oldest inhabited castle in the world. Henry VIII and his favorite bride Jane Seymour are buried there, but without all the pomp that he had planned. Windsor also was a favorite of Queen Victoria, even though she almost met her demise there eight times!

With brother Edward VI on the throne, young Elizabeth lived with her father Henry VIII’s widow Katherine Parr until improprieties forced her to leave. She was at Hatfield House when she found out sister Mary had died and she had become queen.

At Lochleven Castle, Mary Queen of Scots was forced to abdicate her crown, shortly after a traumatic miscarriage of twins fathered by a man she’d been coerced into marrying. Yet George I and his son George II blithefully kept their mistresses and illegitimate offspring at St. James Palace while on the throne. And, not surprisingly, there’s at least one secret passage from one royal residence to another.

Amid the opulence or decay of these 30 royal homes, you’ll learn of intriguing stories that will bring history to life.

rating: ★★★★

The Royal Palaces: Secrets and Scandals
by Kate Williams
Quarto Publishing Group

Book review: Cult Following: The Extreme Sects That Capture Our Imaginations―and Take Over Our Lives

J.W. Ocker’s compass leads him to oddities the world over, so writing about cults is definitely within his milieu. This time, it’s not a travelogue and thankfully not an immersive experience, since it’s difficult to extract people from cults. Then we’d miss out on Ocker’s way with words, like heading a chapter “A Fetish for Feet and Fraud,” or his important clues to avoid joining such a sect.

What’s scary is cult followers are seeking acceptance and purpose in their lives, and they’re not so different from you and me. Ocker neatly uses what they seek as section heads: truth, protection, purpose, salvation, and/or betterment. He also explains the attributes of the leaders, who tend to be charismatic but have deep flaws, and why people follow them. What struck me most was how many cults believe in aliens and being saved from apocalypses.

You’ve heard of the Branch Davidians, the Manson Family, and Heaven’s Gate in the media. It’s like we’re compelled to tune in to these horror stories. Ocker explains how 30 cults formed, their beliefs, and their outcomes. He also mentions well-known people who were adherents and survived as well as those doing prison time. Some of these cults are still active and new ones are always assembling.

A fascinating read. 

rating: ★★★★

Cult Following: The Extreme Sects That Capture Our Imaginations―and Take Over Our Lives
by J.W. Ocker
Quirk Books 

Book review: Devil's Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain

Devil's Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain by Ed Simon is a cultural extravaganza, covering theatrical works, music, art, and literature with a dash of history, science, and technology. It would make an interesting multimedia presentation if the book were packaged with Tartini’s “Devil’s Trill Sonata” and Robert Johnson’s “Cross Road Blues,” scenes from Marlowe and Goethe plays, and art by Goya and Delacroix. After all, not all these works are familiar to the average reader.

Some early stories from the Bible and Apocrypha don’t fulfill the devil’s contract. For instance, Jesus wandered 40 days in the wilderness and rejected the devil’s tests. Simon Magus—a sorcerer who bewitched the people of Samaria—listened to Philip the Evangelist preach, believed, and was baptized. But when Simon saw the apostles laying on of hands, he wanted to buy that power, but was denied. Author Ed Simon uses these stories to set up the next stage.

During the Inquisitions and subsequent witch trials, interrogators steeped in demonology coerced victims under torture to claim relationships with the devil. That contract needed a name. So, in the late 16th century, German alchemist and sorcerer Johann Faust went from folk legend to the archetype of one who sold his soul to the devil. His supposed deed influenced writers, artists, musicians, and more. In fact, Simon even gets into a groove where his phraseology changes, skipping over verbs, waxing lyrical.

And then he comes crashing down. By chapter 10, Simon inserts his 21st century ideals onto 17th century life in the New World when writing about the 1692 Salem witch trials. He also, like many high school English teachers, gets caught up in Arthur Miller’s 1953 play, The Crucible, which rewrites actual history into a story of an affair that never happened.

Simon then trounces the Puritans and their Calvinist religion hard, with their theft of native lands, slavery, misogyny, and belief in predestination. Here, he believes that the Faustian bargain is written in the town charters, not between, say, the devil and an accused witch.

Curiously, though, by the third generation—around the time of the witch trials—many Massachusetts Bay people were moving away from Calvinism, forcing religious leaders to compromise with the Halfway Covenant and other religious principles. Plus, the dying off of the older generations—like Judge William Stoughton—also made way for more liberal ideas and beliefs, leading to another revolt of “no taxation without representation.”

But Simon doesn’t acknowledge that progress and holds Salem—not Boston, New York City, or Los Angeles—accountable for turning the United States into a Faustian Republic. Then he closes his diatribe with another religious metaphor, the Apocalypse.

Devil’s Contract begins with a journey through the Arts, then takes a wild hairpin turn. Halfway through, it’s as if Simon had a dark epiphany that changed the direction of his writing. It’s unsettling. And maybe that’s the point.

rating: ★★★

Devil's Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain
by Ed Simon
Melville House Publishing

Book review: The Shortest History of Sex

A fast-paced and often humorous read, The Shortest History of Sex covers two billion years, from the big bang and microbes all the way down the evolutionary tree to humans. The book explores how the complex sex lives of primates transformed into the weird and wonderful aspects of human sexuality from our foraging ancestors to our futuristic selves. 

Without judgment, David Baker takes us on this long, strange trip, uncovering instinctual behaviors, multifaceted passions, relationship patterns, curious desires, and so much more. You may not learn new bedroom tricks but you may be able to explain your peccadillo by saying the bonobos did it too. 

rating: ★★★★★

The Shortest History of Sex: Two Billion Years of Procreation and Recreation
by David Baker
The Experiment

Book review: Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials

In Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials, Marion Gibson argues that witch trials from the late Medieval period to today were motivated not by the Bible but by demonology.

While the Bible does say “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (KJV, Exodus 22:18), it doesn't offer much detail. Demonologies, however, mostly focused on women—the weaker sex—succumbing to the forked-tongue lies of Satan’s minions. Misogyny was rampant, especially in male-dominated arenas like religion and government. Over the last 700 years, the most common trait of a witch was being female (though not all the accused were).

As Gibson discusses, German churchman and demonologist Heinrich Kramer (c. 1430-1505) failed in his first attempt to destroy the “witches” of Innsbruck, Austria. But afterward, he wrote the exceptionally popular Malleus Maleficarum in 1487, also known as The Hammer of Witches. By 1600, about 45 demonology titles were published in Western Europe, including one by King James VI of Scotland (later James I of England). These books were widely circulated among churchmen, rulers, the upper classes, and scholars—including Judge William Stoughton and ministers Cotton Mather and Samuel Parris, all of whom influenced the Salem witch trials in 1692.

For the Salem story, Gibson focuses on “Tatabe,” Parris’ Indian servant who had a prominent but short-lived role early in the Salem witch trials. Under duress, Tituba (falsely) confessed to practicing witchcraft but was not executed, while the ones who claimed their innocence at trial were. Instead of the power of Tituba’s testimony and its many parallels to British witchcraft beliefs, Gibson concentrates on the hypothetical Arawak birth story from Elaine Breslaw’s Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem. Highlighting those parallels would have helped to debunk the voodoo myths surrounding Tituba, often told by misguided writers and tour guides who haven’t delved into the original records.

Thirteen Trials includes cases from Europe, Africa, and the Americas, covering a wide variety of situations, cultures, and time periods. It’s a fascinating read, with each history connected to the underlying premise of misogyny and violence against women.

Today, in Salem and elsewhere, “people who have redefined witchcraft and embraced the identity of ‘witch’” embody the medieval demonologists’ worst nightmares (ch. 13).

rating: ★★★★

Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials
by Marion Gibson
Scribner Book Company

Book review: The Evolution of Religions: A History of Related Traditions

Comparative religion books are often written by religious scholars or historians. But this one has a twist: It’s written by a scientist—an evolutionary biologist and systematist to be exact. 

There’s beauty in having a scientist write such a book. Lance Grande remains neutral, or agnostic if you will, to the different religions. His purpose is to analyze how organized religions came into being, how they change and evolve over time, and how they create new groups and subgroups—or become extinct.

Organized religions developed from early supernaturalism into Asian cyclicism, Old World polytheism, linear monotheism, traditional and reformation Christianity, gnosticism and Biblical demiurgism, and Islam. Grande focuses on each group’s origin and development, doctrines, rituals/practices, and supernatural beings/deities from prehistoric times to today. 

From that evolutionary perspective, Grande discovers the history of related traditions (as in the title). He shows how, for example, the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) are historically and ideologically intertwined, but also how they diversified—by using historical and scriptural records. The amazingly detailed charts help us visualize the relationships between religions and the subgroups that grew out of them, while the sidebars, images, and glossary provide additional context.

It’s an imperfect science due to changing archaeological interpretations and new discoveries, variables in oral traditions and written transcriptions, and the physical destruction or recovery of scriptures. That's why Grande created the framework and then invited others to fill in the missing pieces and build upon his work.

The Evolution of Religions is a big book, but it’s written methodically so you’ll understand the broad concepts behind many organized religions around the world.

rating: ★★★★★

The Evolution of Religions: A History of Related Traditions
by Lance Grande
Columbia University Press

Book review: A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself

Katherine Howe is well-versed in mariner lingo and the real life of pirates—not the swashbucklers of literature but the gritty, dangerous kind that prowled the seas in the early 18th century. As the title explains, much of this novel is the autobiography of a serving girl fleeing from trouble who disguises herself as a cabin boy and works alongside misfits and desperados of the sea. 

Although Hannah’s story is fiction, her captain is based on the real, cold-blooded pirate Edward Low. As she learns the ropes and what governs the crew, Hannah’s story is paralleled by a professor, Marian Beresford, who strives to get out of her famous father’s shadow and find Hannah’s buried treasure in 1930.

A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself is a fascinating read. It draws you into these two women’s lives but doesn’t complete the whole picture. You have to paint that in yourself, given the clues provided.

rating: ★★★★

A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself
by Katherine Howe
Henry Holt & Company

Howe also edited The Penguin Book of Pirates.

Book review: World Religions in Seven Sentences

Why do people seek to learn about other religions? Knowing what others believe and how it affects their worldview is helpful as friends, colleagues, neighbors, travelers, and seekers. For instance, we may wonder: Why do Muslims fast for a month? What does karma mean to Hindus and Buddhists? Why do Jews, Muslims, and Christians fight over Israel and the West Bank? Do Atheists believe God is dead?

Douglas Groothuis, a professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary since 1993, encapsulates seven world religions into seven short phrases, then explains what they mean in his book, World Religions in Seven Sentences. These lines are not always self-explanatory (compared to, say, Descartes’ famous “I think, therefore I am”). For example, the phrases range from obscure (Hinduism’s “You are that”) to easily memorized (Islam’s “There is one God, and Muhammad is his prophet”).

Groothuis excels at providing lists: the Four Covenants of the Jews; Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths; the Six Tenets of Islam. He also explains how both Hindus and Buddhists believe in karma, though Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha rejected major parts of Hinduism in order to seek enlightenment.

As he says in the introduction, Groothuis provides his “evaluations of each faith” through his conviction that “truth is [only] found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.” That’s seemingly why the book begins with Atheism (not that “God is dead” but “there is no God and has never been”). As more Americans become unaffiliated to a particular religion, the author warns that “a world without God is ripe … [for] the most ruthless political oppression.”

He saves Islam for last. As the second-most popular religion in the world, Islam has similarities to the two other Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Christianity. It recognizes the prophets of the Hebrew Bible and its Qur’an talks of Jesus as a prophet of Allah. However, Muslim teachings deny Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and place in the Trinity (the Godhead). Groothuis claims Jesus and Mohammad are two of the most influential people in the world. However, he shows Jesus as a humble healer, while Mohammad is a destroyer and leader; “Allah is merciful” but the Christian “God is love.”

World Religions in Seven Sentences provides a brief overview of different religions, but its Christian viewpoint introduces too much bias for non-Christian readers.

rating: ★★★

World Religions in Seven Sentences: A Small Introduction to a Vast Topic
by Douglas Groothuis
IVP Academic

Book review: Crime and Punishment in Tudor England: From Alchemists to Zealots

English laws and the penalties for breaking them were harsh. 

While the Tudor era ended before the Winthrop fleet arrived on the shores of Massachusetts Bay Colony, some of the crueler penalties were not abolished until the 19th century. Fortunately, the Puritan colonists created the first 100 rules of 1641's Body of Liberties based on the Bible—and used more humane treatment compared to what they left behind in England.

In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, however, when Giles Corey refused to enter a plea in court, he was pressed to death for it. This gruesome punishment, also known as Peine forte et dure, was only used once stateside. But it was not abolished in England until 1772. In fact, in English courts the accused was not given the option of pleading “not guilty” until 1827. 

Other examples include a thief who steals bread could get a hand cut off, while a vagrant could get branded with the letter V. Some punishments were designed for maximum humiliation, with the crowds throwing rotten foodstuff at convicts in the cart or at the pillory. That was tame compared to being drawn and quartered, then hanged—again, with crowd participation.

If you’re looking for more details on Crime and Punishment in Tudor England, pick up the new book by April Taylor. The author provides background information on lawmaking, prisons, and court systems—and 23 pages of punishments, from beheading to whipping. In the book's second half, crimes from sumptuary laws to treason are covered in alphabetical order, each followed by case studies. You’ll learn what evidence could be used against the accused, what tortures could be applied to gain a confession, and even which strategies were used for the criminal’s demise.

Taylor turns crime and punishment in the Tudor period into a fascinating read, while the alpha-order format makes it easy to browse or research specific topics.

rating: ★★★★

Crime and Punishment in Tudor England: From Alchemists to Zealots
by April Taylor
Pen & Sword History

Book review: The League of Lady Poisoners

A curiously fascinating book. Was it the poisonous-green artwork on the cover, the clever title, or the idea of women secretly using poison to change their life stories that drew me to this book? Probably all three! Lisa Perrin’s illustrations throughout masterfully blend with the narratives of women seeking love, revenge, money, control of their own lives, or helping others get out of bad situations.

Some of these names will be familiar—after all, they are notorious killers, and women at that! Their methods are intimate, as they carefully dole out poison in food, drink, or in medicines meant for sustenance or cures. Their unsuspecting targets are within the household realm or in the workplace, and the poisoners often are in positions as caretakers. 

Grouped by possible motives, these short biographies provide the setting, the backstory (if known), the crime, and the verdict for 25+ women. And, if you want more, Perrin provides a wide variety of sources to dig into afterwards.

A touch of wit balances the macabre theme, while solid research, riveting stories, and judicious use of illustrations round out Perrin’s debut book. I wonder what topics she’ll tackle next!

rating: ★★★★★

The League of Lady Poisoners: Illustrated True Stories of Dangerous Women
by Lisa Perrin
Chronicle Books

Book review: The Return of the Ripper: The Murder of Frances Coles

In 1888–1891, at least 10 women were murdered in the Whitechapel district of East London, England. Some of their cases are footnotes compared to Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, Mary Kelly—the canonical five who are considered victims of the serial killer newspapers nicknamed Jack the Ripper. All 10 murders remain unsolved.

In The Return of the Ripper, Kevin Turton takes an in-depth look at one case, the death of Frances Coles. The well-paced narrative begins with her early morning murder on 13 February 1891, then follows the detectives searching for her identity, a motive, and a murderer. Like the earlier killings, the victim’s throat was slashed, her body was found accidentally, and no witnesses saw what happened. Tying a few clues together, the police arrest a man for the murder, but after the coroner’s inquest, he’s released.

After laying out Frances Coles’ case, the author describes Jack the Ripper’s profile, the arrested man’s story, how the other nine victims’ murders fit, and what the investigators knew. For armchair gumshoes, Turton provides a map of the murders, images of Whitechapel, and a who’s who list, along with his conclusions.

rating: ★★★★

The Return of the Ripper: The Murder of Frances Coles 

by Kevin Turton

Pen & Sword Books Ltd. 

Book review: The Shortest History of Europe

If you need a history refresher, check out The Shortest History series published by The Experiment LLC. Current books in the series include Europe, England, Germany, Israel and Palestine, India, China, and Greece, with more in the works. Promoted as “Thousands of years of history. One riveting, fast-paced read,” the series is written by expert historians who are also international bestselling authors.

The title says it all: The Shortest History of Europe: How Conquest, Culture, and Religion Forged a Continent—A Retelling of Our Times. This is not a sprawling narrative filled with name-dropping and stringent timelines. Instead, John Hirst’s narrative explores how Greek and Roman learning, Christianity, and German warrior culture created modern Europe. 

At first, it’s hard to absorb how only three elements determined the course of European history. But Hirst shows how all the monumental events happened because of conquest, culture, and religion. 

For example, the Catholic Church banished or executed great thinkers like Copernicus and Galileo because their interpretations of how the universe worked contradicted the Greco-Roman view. Martin Luther and his followers wanted to return Christianity to its basic form—the Bible—without the Greco-Roman trappings and started the Reformation. Many years later, Isaac Newton and Einstein explained their scientific discoveries by following the Greek theory that answers would be “simple, mathematical, and logical.”

Throughout the book and its many revolutions, Hirst synthesizes European history in a way that goes beyond my college classes, yet is simple and accessible.

rating: ★★★★★

The Shortest History of Europe: How Conquest, Culture, and Religion Forged a Continent—A Retelling of Our Times
by John Hirst
The Experiment

Book Review: Medieval Plants and Their Uses

Curious what plants were well-known by the 17th-century Massachusetts Bay colonists, I delved into Michael Brown’s new book, Medieval Plants and Their Uses. Planting and harvesting were essential to the survival of communities. Besides food and medicinal purposes, though, could plants have been involved in the Salem witch trials? After all, one widely debunked hypothesis claimed ergot poisoning could have caused the witch hunt.

According to Brown, during wet weather a parasite caused fungus to grow on rye. Since grains were processed at the local mill, ergot poisoning could spread far and wide. Ergot-related mass casualties occurred in continental Europe but notably not in England, where wheat was the popular grain.

Also known as St. Anthony’s Fire, ergot poisoning could cause “hallucinations, convulsions, erratic behavior, or gangrene; death was common.” While some of these symptoms were apparent in the Salem courthouse in 1692, their underlying causes could be many different health issues. Plus, not every local household or family member displayed symptoms—which would happen if they shared bread—so it’s unlikely that ergot poisoning was a cause of the witch-hunt.

Planting the colony

From the start of the Great Migration, ships came from England with plant cuttings and seeds to grow crops and herbs for food, flavorings, and medicines. Recipes were passed down and shared, like making tansy tea for worms; using vinegar, salt, and honey for cleaning and sterilizing a wound; and eating dandelions to encourage urine flow.

Living on Will’s Hill, the tightknit Wilkins clan may not have been privy to the diuretic dandelion remedy. Patriarch Bray Wilkins reported “my water was sodainly stopt, & I had no benefit of nature, but was like a man on a rack” and accused his grandson-in-law John Willard—an outsider—of causing his bladder issue and his grandson Daniel Wilkins’ death. When a “skillful” woman’s remedies didn’t work, she asked Bray if any “evil persons” did him damage. He said he was “sore afraid they had.” Afflicted accuser Mercy Lewis even said she saw John Willard on his grandfather Bray’s belly. Bray later claimed it was not him “but the testimony of the afflicted persons and the jury … that would take away [John Willard’s] life if any thing did, & within about 1/4 hour after this I was taken in the sorest distress & misery my water being turned into real blood, or of a bloody colour & the old pain returned excessively as before which continued for about 24 hours together” (Records of the Salem Witch Hunt 528). It’s clear Bray’s urine retention was a real illness, such as an enlarged prostate, and not a witch’s curse. Yet John Willard was executed for witchcraft on 19 August 1692.

Brown also covers plants with religious associations and magical powers. For instance, Rev. John Hale could have put calendula under his pillow to reveal in dreams that Dorcas Hoar was stealing from him. Saint John’s wort could have expelled the demons from Rev. Samuel Parris’ home while mugwort could have kept ghosts and evil spirits away.

Besides offering insight into historic diets and medical remedies, this book covers common, everyday usage of plants for housekeeping, laundry, animal health care, beauty treatments, and even aphrodisiacs. Well illustrated with photos, Medieval Plants and Their Uses concludes with a few original medieval recipes, a list of plants (their medical and/or practical uses, name variants), and suggested reading.

Brown provides an accessible and fascinating insight into the uses of medieval plants.

rating: ★★★★

Medieval Plants and Their Uses
by Michael Brown
Published by Pen & Sword Books Ltd. 

Book review: Teaching Witchcraft

When you visit Salem, Massachusetts, you discover the city has many modern witchcraft shops, especially in the tourist areas of Essex Street and the wharf. It’s odd because the 20 people executed in 1692 for the capital crime of witchcraft were not, in fact, witches.

In Teaching Witchcraft: A Guide for Students and Teachers of Wicca, Miles Batty says witchcraft is not Devil worship or Satanism. Yet that’s what they were convicted of in 1692, even the stoutest of Puritans. The convicted witches were accused of harming people and animals, signing the devil’s book, or even trying to overthrow the Puritan church.

In contrast, present-day witches follow a rule to harm none. They celebrate seasonal changes, nature, the moon and stars, the god and goddess, and/or pre-Christian deities. Despite the blend of pagan ideology, Batty explains, their practices were not passed down through the centuries. Modern witchcraft began in the late 19th century, was influenced in the 1920s by the (largely discredited) works of Margaret Murray, expanded through the teachings of Gerald Gardner, and captured the imagination of the 1960s. Today’s witch has nothing in common with the accused witches of 1692.

Batty provides an interesting overview of religious development from pre-history to monotheism, followed by intentional acts to wipe out Pagans, Druids, heretics, magicians, wise women, and witches. What the conquerors couldn’t destroy, they converted for their own use (altars, relics) or absorbed (festivals and celebrations).

A collection of folkways, a lifestyle & philosophy

The second half of Teaching Witchcraft is more like a manual, providing the basics for incorporating different elements into a personal practice, either as part of a group or as an individual. Although designed for classroom or personal study, the book works well for curious readers like me who want to understand Wiccan beliefs, the cornerstones of magick, the meaning of rituals. Interspersed with charts and drawings, the book is a guide to the Wheel of the Year, the sabbats and esbats, moon cycles, signs and symbols, stones and crystals, amulets and talismans, auras and chakras.

Teaching Witchcraft is set up as lessons, each one ending with a series of questions and recommended reading. It closes with final exams and teacher resources.

The book is a solid introduction to modern witchcraft, whether you’re on that path or wondering what all those witches do in Salem.

rating: ★★★★★

Teaching Witchcraft: A Guide for Students and Teachers of Wicca 
by Miles Batty
Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.