<p>In 1954 a book was published which claimed that witches were not just some historical oddity but that the author, retired civil servant, Gerald Gardner, had been initiated into a witch coven in the New Forest, Hampshire, England in 1939.</p><p>Many dismissed his claims, but Philip Heselton, who has been investigating the story for over 20 years, is convinced that what Gardner wrote about the witch coven was essentially true.</p><p>He has found that the New Forest coven was started by a group of esoteric students in the early part of the 20th century who believed in reincarnation and that they had been witches in a previous lifetime.</p><p>Philip Heselton has uncovered the likely membership of the coven and has brought them to life as never before.</p>