Norman Cohn
Norman Cohn was a British historian and scholar, best known for his works on millenarianism and the history of European thought. His notable books include 'The Pursuit of the Millennium' and 'Europe's Inner Demons.'
Books
This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.
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1. The Pursuit of the Millennium
Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages
This book provides a comprehensive historical analysis of millenarian movements in Europe from the 11th to 16th centuries. It delves into the social and psychological factors that led to the rise of these movements, which were characterized by the belief in an impending apocalypse followed by a new, heavenly order on earth. The author examines a number of these movements in detail, including the Crusades, the flagellant movements, and the Anabaptist kingdom of Münster, and argues that these millenarian ideologies were often used to justify violence and social revolution.
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2. Cosmos, Chaos And The World To Come
The Ancient Roots of Apocalyptic Faith
A concise history of apocalyptic imagination, it traces how expectations of an ultimate end and a renewed world grew from ancient Near Eastern combat myths and Iranian dualism, merged with Israelite prophecy, and culminated in Jewish and early Christian visions. By exploring themes of cosmic order versus chaos, resurrection, judgment, and new creation, it shows how a linear, redemptive view of time displaced older cyclical cosmologies. Through readings of texts such as Daniel, Enoch, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Revelation, it explains how apocalyptic hope offered meaning in times of crisis and profoundly shaped the religious imagination of the West.
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3. Europe's Inner Demons
An Enquiry Inspired by the Great Witch-Hunt
A concise historical analysis that traces how apocalyptic expectations, conspiratorial myths, and fears of hidden enemies in late medieval and early modern Europe—including beliefs about witchcraft, blood libel, and millenarian movements—fueled mass persecutions, social paranoia, and political violence, arguing that these recurring patterns of religious fanaticism and xenophobic imagination help explain the social dynamics that later contributed to modern extremist and totalizing ideologies.
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