Exactly what I have been wanting - the history of witches from the Bible and various areas of mythology. Pieced together in a way that begs to be re-read and annotated a few times over. I desperately need a physical copy of this for that reason. Thank you to Netgalley and Pen & Sword for the eARC.

‘Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

The cover alone is just divine!

I was really looking forward to this read but sadly I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would :( I think this is due to it reading more like a reference book. (citations of sources of information)

A must read for any history reader.

We learn about witches from Ancient Greece, to James I and the Witch Hunts, to the forgotten Victorian witch Gahool.

This was extremely digestible even with all the new information I learned from it! You can tell that the author loves what she was writing about and it was very well researched.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Pen & Sword for the ARC! As always, all thoughts here are 100% my own.

It’s probably no shock that I love reading about classical history. And witches. So, when I came across The First Witches by Alexis Prescott, I just knew I had to read it. And let me tell you, it absolutely delivered.

This book takes you through history exploring the evolution of witches, who they are and how they were portrayed in literature. From the Illiad and the Odyssey, through Metamorphoses and Macbeth to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the book not only highlights key references but also compares the witches in question to show how socio-political influences shaped their depictions. Then, it dives into how all of this has impacted Western literature, and the Western world in general.

Even though I was familiar with some of the arguments the book presents, the way it lays everything out is both informative and super accessible. It felt like it was organizing my own thoughts, introducing me to more details and making everything click in a whole new way. And all in under 200 pages!

Plus, the footnotes and the references section are extensive and provide with even more resources and books to dig into!

All in all, I adored this book. So much so that I found myself thinking about it while watching several movies recently!

The First Witches is a fascinating look through history and classical literature studying the lineage of witches in history. If you're interested in women's history and the history of witches, I highly recommend this book. It was a fascinating look at some familiar and unfamiliar tales.

If, like me, you are interested in the history of witches then you must give this book a try. I love anything witchcraft related and this detailed piece of non-fiction helped me place many of the famous witches from classical literature. This will give a lot more context to all the retellings I am reading

There are references to witches in classical literature including Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey”, Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”, Vergil’s “Aeneid”, Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and more. As for the witches themselves there are references to Medea, Circe, Hecate, Erichtho, as well as Baba Yaga and so many more.
I enjoyed the comparison of how witches were regarded in classical Greek literature as opposed to classical Roman literature, and the impact they have had on the Western World.
There are even references to witches in modern film.

Because of the richness of information I will probably have to reread it, since I won’t be able to retain all the information on these interesting women’s stories for long. This is why I think this book can be used as a reference guide, something to constantly return to.

Further, I like the presence of foot notes and an extensive sources section in non-fiction, especially anything pertaining to witchcraft because it allows me to look up a lot more information regarding the subject and it shows all the research that went into writing the book.

Thank you to the publisher and author for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I have always been fascinated with witches and so when I saw this I knew it would be a fascinating read. It was very well researched without being too heavy on the facts and was such an interesting read

Absolutely brilliant! A well researched and comprehensive historical representation in a highly readable format that’s brimming with details and overflowing with all manner of witch information and depictions. While this is not a book about Salem, MA, I did grow up in that area and perhaps that’s why I voraciously devour all types of books on witches. This one was refreshingly different and incessantly compelling in an academic and literary way. Fascinating stuff I loved every minute of it!

Great book
As someone who found later in life that my family has witches in our past and current it always fascinated me
Especially when none of us knew of the past yet able do things that sadly centuries ago people would been hounded for
It's sad history that has happened and good find book that reflects this

This is interesting and I found it to be a good companion book to the witchy novels I’ve been enjoying lately. It lacks a bit of drama but if you think of it as more of a reference book I think you would enjoy it. I think a physical version of this book would be great. Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.