The Pursuit of the Millennium
The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages (1957, revised and expanded in 1970), is Norman Cohn's study of millenarian cult movements.
Covering a wide span of time, Cohn's book discusses topics such as anti-Semitism and the Crusades, in addition to such sects as the Brethren of the Free Spirit, flagellants, the Anabaptists, and the Ranters. The Pursuit of the Millennium concludes with a discussion of the theocratic king John of Leiden, who took over the city of Münster in 1534.
Contents |
[edit] Legacy
People influenced by The Pursuit of the Millennium include French Marxist Guy Debord, who considered the chiliastic cults discussed by Cohn something of a model for the Situationist International,[1] and British author Richard Webster. Webster wrote that he was impressed by the book, and that it lead him to read Cohn's other works, including Warrant for Genocide and Europe's Inner Demons. Reading these books helped convince Webster that "the principle reason why we should study the witch-hunts of the past is to enable us the better to recognise and oppose the witch-hunts of the present and the future", and lead to his interest in the problem of false abuse allegations.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Hussey, Andrew (2001). The Game of War: The Life and Death of Guy Debord. London: Jonathan Cape. pp. 174, 191. ISBN 0-224-04348-X.
- ^ Webster, Richard (2005). The Secret of Bryn Estyn: The Making of a Modern Witch Hunt. Oxford: The Orwell Press. pp. xv–xvi. ISBN 0951592246.
[edit] External links
 |
This article about a non-fiction history book is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
