Malmesbury Abbey was an institution of national significance throughout the Middle Ages and this book is the first full-length study of its history. Drawing upon particularly rich surviving documentary sources, it describes the monastery's evolution from the late seventh century to the Dissolution in 1539. The place was home to two particularly eminent writers: Aldhelm and William of Malmesbury. The Abbey had many royal connections. It housed the mausoleum of Æthelstan, first king of all England, and was effectively re-founded by King Edgar as part of an elite network of Benedictine communities intended to offer prayers on behalf of the royal house of Wessex. Queen Matilda, wife of Henry I, took a close interest in the monastery's affairs. Henry Plantagenet was present when a massacre took place in the Abbey church in 1153. In the 1320s the monks became caught up in the conflict between Edward II and his baronial opponents. The Abbey was also important architecturally. The church was completely rebuilt at the behest of Bishop Roger of Salisbury, chief minister of Henry I, and the surviving south porch contains some of the finest Romanesque sculpture in England. Previously neglected or unexamined sources are used extensively. The book reveals for the first time the identity of the Malmesbury monk who wrote the chronicle known as Eulogium Historiarum in the 1360s; his name was Thomas of Bromham and he envisaged a messianic role for the Black Prince. New light is shed on the extraordinary careers of abbots such as William of Colerne who transformed the Abbey's economic fortunes and John of Tintern who was accused of murder and arson. The turbulent final years of the Abbey's existence receive considerable attention, including an account of the spectacular breakdown in discipline in 1527 when Abbot Richard Camme was attacked by a gang of rebellious monks.

The seventeenth-century man of letters John Aubrey is remembered, above all, for his great biographical work, Brief Lives. He also wrote pioneering works dealing with education, geology, languages, archaeology, history, place-name study and folklore. Aubrey was a Fellow of the Royal Society. Other early members of the Royal Society included Robert Boyle, the greatest scientist of his generation and Henry More, one of England's leading philosophers. Aubrey, Boyle and More promoted new thinking about the natural world and championed the use of experimental science. They also believed in demons and angels and the authenticity of witchcraft. Aubrey recommended ways of countering witchcraft through horseshoe magic and suggested that gifted schoolboys should be taught to communicate with good spirits through the use of crystal balls. Boyle publicly endorsed the reality of witchcraft based on a case study from France. Henry More attempted to explain scientifically how witches could leave their bodies behind them when attending sabbat meetings. The Last Witch Craze tells the story of these men and others who attempted to reconcile science and sorcery. Their ideas were taken very seriously by others and provided an intellectual justification for the last lethal witch craze in Britain and America. Two fellows of the Royal Society - Joseph Glanvill and James Long - actively participated in witch hunts. In New England, those who persecuted the witches of Salem were fully aware that several distinguished members of the Royal Society of London were believers in the reality of witchcraft. The book also reveals that John Aubrey had a dark secret. His magical notebook survives in the archives of Oxford University. It makes clear that Aubrey personally practised a form of black magic and used charms to conjure up demons.

Tony McAleavy traces the complex history of the modern conflict between Arabs and Jews from ancient times to the present day. This book explores the rise of Zionism, the persecution of the Jews, the creation of the state of Israel and its impact on the Palestinian people. It also assesses the nature of the conflict in the second half of the twentieth century; the rise of the PLO, the wars between the Arabs and Israelis, the role of the superpowers and the recent attempts to achieve a peaceful settlement.