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Witch: A Tale of Terror

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Witch: A Tale of Terror

By: Charles MacKay, Sam Harris - introduction
Narrated by: Sam Harris
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About this listen

For centuries in Europe, innocent men and women were murdered for the imaginary crime of witchcraft. This was a mass delusion and moral panic, driven by pious superstition and a deadly commitment to religious conformity. In Witch: A Tale of Terror, best-selling author Sam Harris introduces and reads from Charles Mackay's beloved book, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.

Public Domain (P)2016 Sam Harris Europe Witchcraft Magic Suspenseful

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I am accustomed to Sam Harris’ voice through his Waking Up podcast, so I knew what to expect from the narrator - very clear, not too emotional, good pace, easy for anyone who speaks English as a second or third (or more) language to understand, but not too slow for an English mother-tongue speaker.

The story itself is of a very interesting (for us now - it must have been a horrible period at the time) passage of time when witch craft seemed so real to everyone and for some reason people even incriminated themselves by telling fantastical tales. And then of course there were self-righteous, sadistic witchfinders.... it sounds all too modern day again when you think of the Jordanian pilot burnt alive in Syria, the polygamous woman apparently buried to her neck and stoned to death by Al-Shabaab in Somalia and the way people who leave cults like Scientologists, Mormom and Christian sects get harrassment and all ties to families cut. I guess that’s why Sam Harris came up with the good idea of telling this story anew for the modern audience. I really enjoyed it, while wincing at the sadism and misguidedness.

Interesting, well narrated

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Interesting historical narrative. Well narrated by Sam Harris. Hope to hear more of this kind of audio book in the future.

Very good

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had to listen in two sittings because it's heavy stuff, hilarious and depressing in equal parts! brilliantly read

brilliant, horrifying

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A short and depressing reflection on human ignorance and willingness to torture and kill. Burning unfortunates for witchcraft is less fashionable these days but unsubstantiated lies are still as popular as ever.

Terrifying, as the title tells

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A really interesting history lesson on a topic I knew very little about, if not for for certain Monty Python sketches.

Only real drawback for me was.that it didn't draw any relevant comparisons to modern day behaviour, or properly explore the phycology behind the phenomenon.

Interesting history lesson

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Sam Harris provides a superb narration of a recap of the witch hunts in Europe, as written by Charles Mackay.

If you've a passing interest in the history of witch craft or the hysteria surrounding it, this book prides a short by instructive introduction to the history and facts of the time

It is well worth a listen, and while short, actually pretty well formed as a tight introduction.

Very good - and Sam Harris is a great narrator.

Well read and well worth a listen

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It's astonishing how people can be mislead and deluded by the religious books. No surprise that the middle east is such a mess if all the structure of government and way of life is based on nonsense pulled out from Koran book.

Religious books - a manual for bad ideas.

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Hard to listen to, the descriptions sometimes, but another great choice, by the Jedi of Philosophy, Sam Harris.

Great read.

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The title says it all. A fantastic exploration of humankinds superstitious madness and malice. excellent

Witch

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I didn't do a thorough research on the contents of this book and thought it was going to be more like a reflection on the subject and analogies with the present, which is what I was mistakenly expecting. It's's more like a very descriptive encyclopedia of the horrors of witch-hunts. in that sense I can't give a relevant review as I'm not fond of the subject

not bad but not what I was expecting

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