HELLISH NELL (BRITAINS LAST WITCH TRIAL) (PB)

One of the last criminal trials using the 1735 Witchcraft Act was, improbably, in London in 1944. The accused was Helen Duncan, a middle-aged Scotswoman born in Perthshire, known since childhood as 'Hellish Nell' for her uncontainable nature. She held seances in which she was believed to manifest the spirits of the dead. Just weeks before the Normandy landings, seen by some as a security threat, she was prosecuted for witchcraft and jailed. This revised edition presents a fascinating window into the unsettled mood of the times.