Cunning Folk by Tabitha Stanmore

Imagine: it's the year 1600 and you've lost your precious silver spoons - or perhaps your neighbour has stolen them. Or maybe your child has a fever. Or you're facing trial. Or you're looking for love. Or you're hoping to escape a husband...What do you do?

'A brilliant book, written with wit and vigour...explores the pre-modern places where magic was real offering not only practical solutions for ordinary problems but a way of feeling about the world' MALCOLM GASKILL author of The Ruin of all Witches

'An engaging new social history of magic...full of magical tips and colourful vignettes...[a] cheerful, colourful compendium of stories, which crackles with incident' KATE MALTBY, Financial Times

'A fascinating book, clearly written and illuminating about the psychological necessity of magical thought' LITERARY REVIEW

'Comprehensive, humane, lively - a great read' RONALD SUTTON, author of The Witch