Troubled by Faith

"Hugely impressive and absorbing * Anna Maria Barry, BBC History Magazine * Davies's achievement is to have written a sort of counter-history to the kinds of early 19th-century histories of witchcraft with which his narrative opens. He eschews the retrospective diagnoses of the early psychiatrists and instead places individual experiences in the broader context of social and cultural change...He has assembled an extraordinary trove of snapshots of individual lives, and he treats them with sympathy and sensitivity. * George Morris, Literary Review * An important addition to the history of psychiatry, but also to histories of folklore and religion in the 19th century. * Jennifer Wallis, Fortean Times * Fascinating * A Bad Witch's Blog * This innovative ""mental archaeology"" sets new agendas for historians of madness and the supernatural, showing the surprising cross-fertilization between faith and psychiatry in the nineteenth century. From the theorists of ""demonomania"" to the unfortunate souls whose fears blended witchcraft with electricity, the book brings to life the remarkable stories of people grappling with irrationality in modernity. * Dr William G. Pooley, University of Bristol * Troubled by Faith offers a rich and memorable examination of the supernatural in nineteenth-century culture. Physicians pathologized magical thinking, but the so-called delusions of asylum patients were rooted in broader societal currents. Combining meticulous research with incisive analysis, Owen Davies compels us to reflect on the madness inherent in modernity. * Dr Martha McGill, University of Warwick * A fascinating read * Elizabeth Wood *"