N. Cohn

An examination of the fantasies that inspired the great European witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries. Europe's Inner Demons is a fascinating history of the irrational need to imagine witches and an investigation of how those fantasies made the persecutions of the middle ages possible. In addition, Norman Cohn's discovery that some influential sources on European witch trials were forgeries has revolutionized the field of witchcraft, making this one of the most essential books ever written on the subject. --from book description, Amazon.com.

Hitler's anti-semitic obsession was influenced by "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," a literary forgery which had widespread international circulation at the time. Cohn unravels the origins of "Protocols" and places it within the broader context of anti-semitic history.