"Pearce's translation from the French preserves the flavor of Ladurie's assiduously researched history. The author, internationally praised for such landmark studies as Carnival in Romans, sought the origins of a poem written in 1840 by Jacques Boeknown as Jasminabout "Francouneto," a witch. A version of the ballad follows Laudurie's accounts of the witch's trials, as well as stories of accusations against a couple who work evil through their powerful, magic mandrake. Jasmin's quiet wit touches upon the bigotry among the Gascon villagers, obsessed by "devil-worship." In part three, there are details supporting Ladurie's belief that the witch, "little Francoise," an actual person, lived in the diocese of Condom during the late 17th century, not the mid-16th as the poem suggests. This is a significant distinction, for attitudes on witchcraft had changed by the latter era, which explains the heroine's survival. In a postscript to this edition, Ladurie responds to a French critic who disputes his interpretation."--amazon.com, review Publisher's weekly.

"The renowned French historian explores the roots and development of a popular tale of witchcraft accusations retold in 1840 by the Gascon poet Jacques Boe or "Jasmin." In a lively narrative the modern historian examines the place of witchcraft in traditional southern French society, translates Jasmin's "Francouneto," and tracks through archival sources and interviews its probable origins in the lives of late 17th-century villagers. The resultant insights into the minds and culture of Gascon peasants will intrigue patrons of public and college libraries."-- amazon.com, Libr. J. review by Richard C. Hoffmann.