From an acclaimed French feminist, a "brilliant, well-documented" celebration (Le Monde) of the witch, a symbol of female rebellion in the face of misogyny and persecution

Centuries after the infamous witch hunts that swept through Europe and America, witches continue to hold a unique fascination for many: as fairy-tale villains, practitioners of pagan religion, and feminist icons. But who were the women who were accused and often killed for witchcraft?

Celebrated feminist writer Mona Chollet explores the types of women who were accused of witchcraft and persecuted: the independent woman, the childless woman, and the elderly woman, who for centuries have been censored, repressed, and even killed. Chollet concludes that rather than being being a brief moment in history, the persecution of witches is an example of society's seemingly eternal misogyny. Women today are direct heir to those who were hunted down and killed for their thoughts and actions, facing the same sort of judgments and stereotypes that women have battled for centuries. With fiery prose and arguments that range from scholarly to cultural, In Defence of Witches unites the mythic image of the witch with modern women who seek to live their lives on their own terms.