Brian Levack has once again produced an eminently readable and accessible book on witch-hunting which will be a boon to all who teach the subject. He has turned his attention to Scottish witch-hunts and provided a balanced survey of the origins, progress and decline of witch-hunting in Scotland which pays careful attention to comparisons with the rest of Europe. He also makes every effort to explain the differences and the similarities between the Scottish and the English experiences of witch-hunting and in particular the effects of the union of the crowns in 1603 and the union of parliaments in 1707. Such a ‘British’ approach brings into sharper focus the distinctive features not only of Scottish but also of English witch-hunting. One of the chief points of difference was the legal system which operated in each country. Given the author's previous experience and views, it is not surprising that the legal argument features very prominently as an explanatory tool. The type and effectiveness of central direction and control in witch-hunting and the process by which trials were conducted had a direct impact upon the levels of witch-hunting. In particular, the more extensive use, despite their technical illegality, of forms of torture in Scotland made it easier for witch prosecutions to gather momentum.

As the book's subtitle indicates, religion also played a significant role and Levack's comments will be of special interest to readers of this Journal. He identifies a distinctive culture of confession in Scotland which was cultivated and upheld by the Reformed discipline at work through the Kirk's comprehensive and effective system of church courts. With public confession before the kirk session and the congregation forming the centrepiece of repentance in post-Reformation Scotland, securing a confession became an important element within witch trials. Some confessions were voluntary, though in many instances they were ‘encouraged’ by deprivation or torture, and they then provided the evidential basis on which a commission to try witches could be obtained. The common assumptions of Scottish religious life provided the context and ‘script’ for these confessions and for the ‘evidence’ produced by those believed to be possessed by a demon. Two detailed studies illustrate the crucial role of the Scottish clergy and the ecclesiastical courts: the outbreak of cases of demonic possession (1690s), and the witch murder at Pittenweem in 1705. At the beginning of the eighteenth century prosecutions died out in Scotland, thanks to judicial scepticism, but witch beliefs did not, instead becoming part of a wider clerical defence against the rising tide of ‘atheism’. The records of Scottish witch-hunting (available on http://www.shc.ed.ac.uk/Research/witches/) help to reveal part of a complex spectrum of beliefs held by Scots men and women of all social and educational levels. Levack has provided an admirable, succinct summary of his main subject as well as useful pointers to other religious topics.