Product Description
Product DescriptionLong out of print, Jules Michelet's classic study of medieval superstition has been reprinted in this edition to bring the general public's attention to one of the truly great sociological works of modern times. Michelet brilliantly recreates the Europe of the Middle Ages, the centuries of fierce religious intolerance, the Inquisition and the auto-da-fe. He depicts the feudal barons, the great manors, the fiefs and serfs... and the witches, hobgoblins and wizards of whom the masses lived in mortal fear. Michelet draws flaming word pictures of the witch hunts, the Black Masses, the reign of Satan, and the weird rites of the damned. Here is the age of unbridled pleasure and sensuality, of luxury beyond imagination and squalor beyond endurance. Here is the time when a girl might be accused of witchcraft merely if she were young and pretty and did not survive the test of immersion in water or boiling oil. Here is the day of beatings, floggings, tortures and summary decapitations. Encyclopedia Britannica called the book, "The most important work on medieval superstition yet written." It is indeed one of the great works on the Age of Darkness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Here's an idea: let's revive the mid-80s Satanic Panic
Apparently, Reid didn't realize that his formulaic work came about 15 years too late...had it been written around the same time works by Lauren Stratford, Pat Pulling, et al. hit the press, it might have worked in adding fuel to the fire. However, with that era's "Satanic Panic" having largely died down since, all you've got is another piece of badly-written fiction that follows the same plot:

- No names are given for suspects, witnesses, etc. (only Reid's name is ever mentioned, and you've gotta love the subtle nod towards anti-Catholicism, as he was supposedly abused as a young boy by two brothers who served as church counselors)
- The alleged time frame gives an indication of "catching the wave", when such literature was flooding print media (his abuse supposedly happened just before the McMartin case broke and after seeing the 1985 report on Satanism by ABC's "20/20", but that would place it well after the stories of Mike Warnke and Michelle Smith-Pazder were first published)
- The absurdity that Reid's police officer father failed to notice any behavioral changes, etc. in his son (given he supposedly began drinking at age 8 and subsequently endured several periods of institutionalization)
- His story of witnessing a truck crash and the resulting gore sounds quite similar to one told by Smith-Pazder in her book (Michelle Remembers)
- He has alleged repeated harassment because of his publication of this work and subsequent articles, yet fails to provide any names or indicate that he sought any action...wouldn't his father have connections in the police department that could be quite handy at a time like this?
- How did Reid come to realize he'd been abused, despite having no memory of it? You guessed it: the use of "recovered memories" via hypnosis, a largely discredited practice

And although Reid claims that he has spoken out against those who make false claims of SRA, he continues to defend Stratford, Pulling, Warnke and others long since discredited (citing, for example, how Warnke brought scores of kids to Christ, despite the Bible clearly stating that the end doesn't justify the means).

In short: We've seen countless works about the alleged global Satanic network and the atrocities allegedly suffered by the authors because of it, yet virtually all of them have been discredited...why should this one be treated any differently?

... Read more