Witchcraft has recently been undergoing a huge popular revival, but does modern pagan witchcraft really bear any resemblance to its historical antecedents? The witch in history was a very different creature from her modern counterpart, and this book sets out to explore the historical background to the European witchcraft phenomenon. It examines in detail the growth of the ideological, cultural and...
The Holy Grail is a subject that fascinates and intrigues. Through its various guises as magic cauldron, cornucopia, horn of plenty and chalice cup it has remained at the centre of popular culture from antiquity right up to the present day. An object of marvel and mystery it inhabits a place in mythology that has its roots in historical facts. The Grail has been a major inspiration and catalyst for...
Nelson continues to fascinate academics as well as the general public.
He is still considered one of Britain’s greatest heroes and featured within the top ten of the BBC poll of such figures. But why does Nelson still remain such a prominent figure in the national imagination? With 2005 being the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar, Victoria Carolan embarks on a timely reappraisal of Nelson,...
From Robert Louis Stevenson’s 'Treasure Island' to Errol Flynn in 'Captain Blood' on to today’s 'Pirates of the Caribbean', the romantic image of pirates in modern Western popular culture has long been with us. But of course pirates come in many guises, and not all of them as charming as Johnny Depp.
Pirates are outlaws who move quickly, a form of lawlessness based on the application...
To many, Urban Legends are nothing more than harmless tales told round a camp fire, in a dormitory or round a table in a pub with the express aim of provoking a frisson of fear in the listener through the use of some horrific shock element in a familiar location and to an unlucky protagonist who is known to a friend of a friend of a friend. But is there something working at a deeper level?
We have...
An unusual treatise on sex education, dating back to 1922 in America. There is a strong bias towards abstinence and indeed there are threats of hellfire and brimstone as a result of, shall we say, 'interference'? With its hectoring tone and finger wagging stance, it is alarming to think that this book was treated as a serious authority on the subject of sex and even more alarming that, even today,...
The quest for the Holy Grail has stirred popular imagination for almost a thousand years, not least in the tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The facts behind the myths are no less romantic, but the story is far more complex than knights in shining armour seeking mythical cups.
This documentary examines the theory that Hayling Island, on England's south coast, may well have...
The mystery of Rennes-le-Château has inspired treasure hunts, theories about the origins of Christianity, and the best-selling novel and film The Da Vinci Code. The mystery concerns Bérenger Saunière, the 19th century priest of an impoverished hilltop village in southern France who became immensely wealthy after apparently finding ancient parchments hidden in his church. Although the secret of the...
What is the Da Vinci code and what is all the fuss about? Despite being a work of fiction, the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code has a plot based on a number of concepts and ideas that the author claims to be true. This book explores the locations, historical facts and theories, and the sources of inspiration behind the novel in order to reveal the true key to the Da Vinci code.
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