Suzannah Lipscomb investigates the origins of the obsession for mass witch hunts and trials that swept the British Isles during the 17th century. Travelling to Scotland and Denmark, she challenges the accepted wisdom that King James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, was responsible for stirring up the hysteria. She also tells the story of Scotland’s first mass witch trial in 1590 and the infamous Pendle witch trials towards the end of his reign.