A compelling and detailed investigation into the historic persecution of women as witches by the founders of the world-famous Witches of Scotland campaign.
11th August 2025
Hardcover
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Summary
A compelling and detailed investigation into the historic persecution of women as witches by the founders of the world-famous Witches of Scotland campaign.
Description
'Fascinating and illuminating, this book tempers the justifiable rage with sharp and funny pinpricks to the pompous.' VAL MCDERMID, author of Past Lying
'As well as highly entertaining read, How To Kill A Witch is a tour de force of research, understanding and compassion.' PROFESSOR SUE BLACK, author of All That Remains. 'Serious and angry, but so completely accessible, How To Kill A Witch is a work of real historical investigation and a fierce warning for our times.' MALCOLM GASKILL, author of The Ruin Of All Witches'At a time when women's rights are once again being threatened across the globe, this book could not be a more timely read if it tried.' SHIRLEY MANSON, Garbage 'Two of Scotland's most vivid storytellers.' THE TIMES As a woman, if you lived in Scotland in the 1500s, there was a very good chance that you, or someone you knew, would be tried as a witch. Witch hunts ripped through the country for over 150 years, with at least 4,000 accused, and with many women's fates sealed by a grizzly execution of strangulation, followed by burning. Inspired to correct this historic injustice, campaigners and writers Claire Mitchell, KC, and Zoe Venditozzi, have delved deeply into just why the trials exploded in Scotland to such a degree. In order to understand why it happened, they have broken down the entire horrifying process, step-by-step, from identification of individuals, to their accusation, 'pricking', torture, confessions, execution and beyond. With characteristically sharp wit and a sense of outrage, they attempt to inhabit the minds of the persecutors, often men, revealing the inner workings of exactly why the Patriarchy went to such extraordinary lengths to silence women, and how this legally sanctioned victimisation proliferated in Scotland and around the world. With testimony from a small army of experts, pen portraits of the women accused, trial transcripts, witness accounts and the documents that set the legal grounds for the hunts, How to Kill A Witch builds to form a rich patchwork of tragic stories, helping us comprehend the underlying reasons for this terrible injustice, and raises the serious question - could it ever happen again?Critic Reviews
'Fascinating and illuminating, this book tempers the justifiable rage with sharp and funny pinpricks to the pompous.' -- Val McDermid author of Past Lying
'As well as highly entertaining read, How To Kill A Witch is a tour de force of research, understanding and compassion. What the world needs is more quarrelsome dames - and Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi are two of the best.' -- Professor Sue Black author of All That Remains
'A dignified, defiant memorial to thousands of ordinary women branded as witches and, all too often, put to death. Told with imagination and empathy, the stories in this book expose the tragedy of their lives, as well as the subordination, paranoia and cruelty responsible. Serious and angry, but so completely accessible, How To Kill A Witch is a work of real historical investigation and a fierce warning for our times.' -- Malcolm Gaskill author of The Ruin Of All Witches
'As a woman who has been called a witch from as early as age ten, you could say I've been waiting my whole life for this book. How did they get away with the wholesale slaughter of women simply for being opinionated, intuitive, creative or intelligent? At a time when women's rights are once again being threatened across the globe, this book could not be a more timely read if it tried.' -- Shirley Manson Garbage
'Quite possibly the most horrific portrayal of one of our darkest periods in history. This book, whilst an addictive read, also warns us of the dangers of powerful men (mostly) who used scapegoating and mass hysteria to target and murder women (mostly). The writers hand us a nightmarish blueprint of what could easily happen today, if we chose to ignore our past.' -- Aamer Anwar leading Human Rights Lawyer
'The Witches of Scotland... profile persecuted women from the burning times. Their tales are woven by archivists, historians and writers - and by Venditozzi and Mitchell themselves, two of Scotland's most vivid storytellers.' THE TIMES
'A unique, angry, surprisingly funny tour of what Scottish witch trial history means today' -- Marion Gibson author of Witchcraft A History in 13 Trials
'Utterly absorbing and drags you in immediately.' -- Jenny Colgan author of The Bookshop on the Corner
'The most important book I'll read this year. A manifesto, a call to arms, a historical heist and a paragon of storytelling, How to Kill a Witch prods some of the most topical issues of the moment and provides a wealth of insights, stitching the past and present together like some gorgeous tartan. Zoe and Claire are a dynamic duo of quarrelsome dames, and their take on witches is the very best. Brilliant, witty, searing, and necessary, this is a book to share and treasure.' -- CJ Cooke author of The Lighthouse Witches
Terrifying, fascinating and important -- Sara Sheridan author of Where Are The Women and The Fair Botanists
'This book pulls off the difficult feat of being simultaneously entertaining, unsettling and enraging. A brilliant account of what happened during Scotland's witch 'panics', and why it still matters today.' -- Mairi Kidd Author of Scottish Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends
'The authors' campaigning and creative approach to exploring the stories of women caught in the maelstrom of witchcraft accusations and patriarchal suspicion makes for an engaging read about a tragic subject.' -- Owen Davies author of Grimoires
About the Author
Zoe Venditozzi and Claire Mitchell, KC
Leading human rights lawyer CLAIRE MITCHELL, KC, and writer, ZOE VENDITOZZI formed the WITCHES OF SCOTLAND campaign with the aim of shining a light on the historic injustice of the Witch Trials. As a result, on International Women's Day, 2022, the First Minister of Scotland, at issued a formal state apology - the first time in 300 years there had been any formal recognition of those who were most wrongly accused.Through their tireless campaigning, regular public appearances, and highly entertaining podcast, also called THE WITCHES OF SCOTLAND, this pair of 'quarrelsome dames' are currently working to build a lasting memorial to the murdered women, and campaign to draw attention to the continued persecution of women as witches around the world today.In 2022, Claire and Zoe were made Doctors of Laws by the University of Dundee in 2022 in recognition of their work. Claire lives in Edinburgh and Zoe lives in Fife.Product Details
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11th August 2025
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