How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

Summary

Nothing brings people together like a common enemy, and witches were the greatest enemy of all.

Scotland, 1563. Crops failed. People starved. And the Devil’s influence was stronger than ever―at least, that’s what everyone believed. If you were a woman living in Scotland during this turbulent time, there was a very good chance that you, or someone you knew, would be tried as a witch.

During the chaos of the Reformation, violence against women was codified for the first time in the Witchcraft Act―a tool of theocratic control with one chilling goal: to root out witches and rid the land of evil. What followed was a dark and misogynistic chapter in history that fanned the flames of witch hunts across the globe, including in the United States and beyond.

In How to Kill a Witch, Zoe Venditozzi and Claire Mitchell, hosts of the popular Witches of Scotland podcast, unravel the grim yet absurdly bureaucratic process of identifying, accusing, trying, and executing women as witches.

This captivating—and often infuriating—account, which weaves a rich tapestry of trial transcripts, witness accounts, and the documents that set the legal grounds for the witch hunts, exposes how this violent period of history mirrors today’s struggles for justice and equality.