Hellish Nell

In 1944, Helen Duncan was charged with witchcraft under the 1735 Witchcraft Act and was jailed for the duration of World War II. ‘Hellish Nell’ was first published in 2001 to widespread acclaim. It remains, in this revised edition, a fascinating window into the unsettled spiritual and psychological mood of the times: a sensational tale of spectacle, credulity and cruelty, and of Britain’s last witch.