John Callow

Fascinating and vivid. New StatesmanThoroughly researched. The SpectatorIntriguing. BBC History MagazineVividly told. BBC History RevealedA timely warning against persecution. Morning StarAstute and thoughtful. History TodayAn important work. All About HistoryWell-researched. The Tablet On the morning of Thursday 29 June 1682, a magpie came rasping, rapping and tapping at the window of a prosperous Devon merchant. Frightened by its appearance, his...

As dusk fell on a misty evening in 1521, Martin Luther—hiding from his enemies at Wartburg Castle—found himself seemingly tormented by demons hurling walnuts at his bedroom window. In a fit of rage, the great reformer threw at the Devil the inkwell from which he was preparing his colossal translation of the Bible. A belief—like Luther's—in the supernatural, and in...