Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic by Tabitha Stanmore (English) P

Description: Cunning Folk by Tabitha Stanmore Opens a fascinating new window onto medieval and early modern life - a world where its possible to meet the devil on the road, control the future through stars, and employ a fairy to help find goldIn Cunning Folk- Life in the Era of Practical Magic, historian Tabitha Stanmore will transport readers to a time when magic was used day-to-day as a way to navigate lifes challenges and to solve problems of both trivial and deadly importance.Imagine- its 1600 and youve lost your precious silver spoons - or perhaps your neighbour has stolen them. Or maybe your child has a fever. Or youre facing trial. Or youre looking for love. Or youre hoping to escape a husband ... What do you do?In medieval and early modern Europe, your first port of call might very well have been cunning folk- practitioners of service magic. Neither feared (like witches), nor venerated (like saints), they were essential to everyday life, a ubiquitous presence in a time when the supernatural was surprisingly mundane. For people from all walks of life, practical magic was a cherished resource with which to navigate lifes many challenges.In Tabitha Stanmores beguiling account, we meet lovelorn widows and dissolute nobles, selfless healers and renegade monks. We listen in on Queen Elizabeth Is astrology readings and track treasure hunters trying to unearth buried gold without upsetting the fairies that guard it. Much like us, premodern people lived in bewildering times, buffeted by forces beyond their control; and as Stanmore reveals, their faith in magic has much to teach us about how we accommodate ourselves to the irrational in our allegedly enlightened lives today.Told with warmth, wit and above all, empathy, these stories take us deep into peoples day-to-day lives- their hopes and desires, their fears and vulnerabilities. Charming in every sense of the word, Cunning Folk is an immersive reconstruction of a bygone world and a thought-provoking commentary on the beauty and bafflement of being human. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Author Biography Tabitha Stanmore is a social historian of magic and witchcraft at the University of Exeter. She is part of the Leverhulme-funded Seven County Witch-Hunt Project, and her doctoral thesis was published as Love Spells and Lost Treasure- Service Magic in England from the Later Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period. She has featured on Radio 3s Free Thinking and BBC 4s Plague Fiction, and her writing has been published in the Conversation. Review This is a brilliant book, written with wit and vigour, in which Tabitha Stanmore 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, an emotional relationship between anxious humans, cosmic forces, and the mundane mysteries of their lives * Malcolm Gaskill, author of The Ruin of All Witches *Absolutely fascinating. Cunning Folk is a much-needed book that draws attention to a little-known but important aspect of daily life. Like all good history books, it tells us about ourselves as well as the past. It will both inform and inspire readers * Ian Mortimer, author of Medieval Horizons *Eye-opening ... [Cunning Folk] gives a human face to magic in medieval and early modern England, bringing us closer than ever to the hopes, dream and aspirations of both clients and practitioners * History Today *Tabitha Stanmores engaging new social history of magic . . . full of such magical tips and colourful vignettes . . . Shes clearly a sharp reader of social realities, and sometimes offers clear-eyed social assessments of why magical rituals had real-world consequences . . . the result is this cheerful, colourful compendium of stories, which crackles with incident -- Kate Maltby * Financial Times *Illuminating… Cunning Folk shows us that our forebears were seeking answers through the tools they had * Spectator * Details ISBN1847927327 Author Tabitha Stanmore Publisher Vintage Publishing Year 2024 ISBN-13 9781847927323 Format Paperback Publication Date 2024-05-02 Imprint The Bodley Head Ltd Subtitle Life in the Era of Practical Magic Place of Publication London Country of Publication United Kingdom Audience General UK Release Date 2024-05-02 Pages 288 DEWEY 390.094 Language English ISBN-10 1847927327 Alternative 9781529926347 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:161459405;

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