Worlds of Fear and Wonder

'The best and most enjoyable history writing ... Gaskill goes to meet the past on its own terms and in its own place ... Thought-provoking and absorbing' Hilary Mantel The supernatural has always been part of human experience. Divine and diabolical forces were as dangerous and mundane as rotten harvests and sweeping sicknesses. Miracles abounded. During the First World War, soldiers put faith in visions and protective charms, and Spiritualists were still believed to reach beyond the veil. When we understand the supernatural as a feeling, not an idea, we can grasp the truth behind our ancestors' fears and passions. In these thought-provoking pieces, Gaskill examines our haunted past from alchemical dens to witchcraft trials, and in uncanny encounters with mediums, vampires and flying nuns. Searching hearts as well as minds, he unlocks the secrets of the unseen world, opening a new perspective on the magical and marvellous.