What do you think?
Rate this book
Death in Salem: The Private Lives Behind The 1692 Witch Hunt
Salem witchcraft will always have a magnetic pull on the American psyche. During the 1692 witch trials, more than 150 people were arrested. An estimated 25 million Americans—including author Diane Foulds—are descended from the twenty individuals executed. What happened to our ancestors? Death in Salem is the first book to take a clear-eyed look at this complex time, by examining the lives of the witch trial participants from a personal perspective. Massachusetts settlers led difficult lives; every player in the Salem drama endured hardships barely imaginable today. Mercy Short, one of the “bewitched” girls, watched as Indians butchered her parents; Puritan minister Cotton Mather outlived all but three of his fifteen children. Such tragedies shaped behavior and, as Foulds argues, ultimately played a part in the witch hunt’s outcome. A compelling “who’s who” to Salem witchcraft, Death in Salem profiles each of these historical personalities as it Why was this person targeted?
288 pages, Paperback
First published August 3, 2010
80 people are currently reading
949 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
November 11, 2024
Me and my bestie did a buddy read for this book for our upcoming trip to Salem,MA. The author did a great job of researching the Salem witch trials and went into an in depth for each person, she gave life to all she wrote about. This book really told the tell of how women back in that time didn’t have any life outside of domestic chores. As I read this book my on going name is “No one in this book gets a happy story” which is true each tale told about someone that has fallen victim to the Salem witch trials was sad.
This book covers everyone, everything and each contributing factor to the witch trials. Although people were executed and some died in prison it’s important to remember they didn’t kill witches, they killed women which in itself is alarming and scary. This is the perfect book for anyone that has an interest in the Salem witch trials, the author research is unmatched and very detailed. Give this book a read.
This book covers everyone, everything and each contributing factor to the witch trials. Although people were executed and some died in prison it’s important to remember they didn’t kill witches, they killed women which in itself is alarming and scary. This is the perfect book for anyone that has an interest in the Salem witch trials, the author research is unmatched and very detailed. Give this book a read.
July 7, 2017
An interest take on the trials. A few pages are given on every player, rather than going in a narrative fashion, which is a nice alternative. The mini-biographies are divided into the following groups: the Accusers, the Victims, the Clergy, the Judges, and the Elites.
I aspire to be as petty as Robert Calef. In mockery of Cotton Mather’s self-congratulatory book on the witch trials and other supernatural happenings, which was entitled “Wonders of the Invisible World,” Calef wrote a book a few years later criticizing the handling of the witch trials and decided to call it “More Wonders of the Invisible World.”
Speaking of Cotton Mather. Definitely got a much more interesting picture of him than one usually does in the trials accounts- and certainly a more sympathetic one. Look, guys. This poor fucker didn’t have a goddamn chance from day 1. He was raised in such a dementedly strict religious household (his dad Increase Mather was super intense) that, at the age of three when he was recovering from a serious illness, he told his dad that- not to worry- “ ’Ton [Cotton] would go see God.” This kid’s not even old enough to pronounce his own {weird} name and he’s all ready to die and go to Jesus. And by the time he was seven he was composing prayers for his friends and bullied them into reciting them. (Unsurprisingly, they made fun of him for this behavior.)
I also aspire to the pathetic-ness of Thomas Brattle, who bribed Harvard students into coming to his funeral.
Also ayyyy I love it when my reading choices have crossover episodes. The Sun King aka Louis XIV made an appearance briefly in “the Elites” section. Having just read City of Light, City of Poison, Louis is an old friend of mine.
Sam Sewall seems like a man ahead of his era, out here apologizing for his role in the witch trials and writing abolitionism and pro-equality books before it was cool. (Total aside, I was at court in Salem the other day and a lawyer quoted Sewall from the witch trials. IN OPEN COURT. IN SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS. I lost my lil mind.)
I aspire to be as petty as Robert Calef. In mockery of Cotton Mather’s self-congratulatory book on the witch trials and other supernatural happenings, which was entitled “Wonders of the Invisible World,” Calef wrote a book a few years later criticizing the handling of the witch trials and decided to call it “More Wonders of the Invisible World.”
Speaking of Cotton Mather. Definitely got a much more interesting picture of him than one usually does in the trials accounts- and certainly a more sympathetic one. Look, guys. This poor fucker didn’t have a goddamn chance from day 1. He was raised in such a dementedly strict religious household (his dad Increase Mather was super intense) that, at the age of three when he was recovering from a serious illness, he told his dad that- not to worry- “ ’Ton [Cotton] would go see God.” This kid’s not even old enough to pronounce his own {weird} name and he’s all ready to die and go to Jesus. And by the time he was seven he was composing prayers for his friends and bullied them into reciting them. (Unsurprisingly, they made fun of him for this behavior.)
I also aspire to the pathetic-ness of Thomas Brattle, who bribed Harvard students into coming to his funeral.
Also ayyyy I love it when my reading choices have crossover episodes. The Sun King aka Louis XIV made an appearance briefly in “the Elites” section. Having just read City of Light, City of Poison, Louis is an old friend of mine.
Sam Sewall seems like a man ahead of his era, out here apologizing for his role in the witch trials and writing abolitionism and pro-equality books before it was cool. (Total aside, I was at court in Salem the other day and a lawyer quoted Sewall from the witch trials. IN OPEN COURT. IN SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS. I lost my lil mind.)
November 10, 2013
If one has never read anything before on the Salem witch trials, Death in Salem would be a good book to start off with, because it is not an academic book, per se, with a plethora of narrowly focused theories as to why the Salem witch drama happened - and there are a sundry lot of possible causes - in example, the Ergot poisoning theory, the PTSD theory stemming from Indian attacks, the conflicts between Salem Town versus Salem Village or the societal repression of the girls, who were the primary accusers in the drama. I’m sure there are other theories, too. Rather, this book gives a grand biographic summary of the specific players; it is divided into sections labeled: The Accusers, the Victims, The Clergy, The Judges and The Elite. Also listed at the back of the book is a list of those who were accused and who were eventually released or died while under incarceration. Under the headings of these sections, Foulds does an excellent job in her succinct use of historical documentation, culling out what is germane and using it in recreating the lives of the individuals and in assessing why a person would possibly fall under the specific heading. Each profile consists of perhaps five to six pages, at best, perhaps even a little more, but it is enough to whet the appetite. By giving a survey of the specific person, the social, religious and political milieu of the times are naturally brought into play, for you really can’t have one without the others. For me, they are all inherently interlocked. While I myself already had a good understanding of the Salem drama (I live not too far from the cities of Salem and Danvers and have visited the historical sites many times), I didn’t think that I’d like this work or be wowed by it. What caught me, above all else, was how the work was structured and how the players were categorized; it really gave this book a great cohesiveness that I have not read in other works that address the same subject. There are other works out there, to be sure, that focus on the particulars, like the sociological, religious, economic and political components, but in trying to understand the complexity of theories, it is, foremost, paramount to understand the reality of the people in which these theories are applied to. These were real flesh and blood folks who lived a real human experience, and I think Diane Foulds captures that spirit quite accurately with Death in Salem.
October 14, 2010
The biggest down side to this book is that it assumes to have some background knowledge about the 1692 Salem witch trials. It goes through personal information about a variety of individuals directly involved in the trials. While it was interesting, it was also a little bit boring. I think you’d have to be pretty interested in the trials or at least writing a school paper to really get anything out of this book.
July 11, 2017
This work is meant to be an accessible introduction to the Salem witchcraze. And it is accessible - oversimplified, under-referenced, and unoriginal in thesis or presentation. Research with such a deplorable lack of citations and even sources should not be allowed to masquerade as nonfiction. First time tourists to the city could compile a more comprehensive and research-based piece.
June 3, 2014
This was maybe not the best book to choose to be my first book about the Salem witch trials. Although it did a good job at looking at the private lives of the people involved, I didn't know enough of the story of what happened to get a lot of value from it.
February 24, 2014
The author gets an A for effort and research. I found that the format of mini-bios from beginning to end became tedious.
August 19, 2015
Just when I think the subject of the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria has been exhausted, along comes Diane E. Fouldes' Death in Salem: The Private Lives Behind the 1692 Witch Hunt!
Ms. Fouldes takes an interesting approach and provides new connections and new meanings for the events of 1692. She has researched the lives of the primary accusers and the victims to let her readers see them as people with lives before and (with the exception of those executed) after the trials. She has also researched the lives of those who allowed the events to proceed and escalate and finally subside - the clergy, the judges and the elite. In doing so, she places Salem and its troubles into the larger context of the Puritan world.
Readers will understand the Puritan mindset a little more, and the ways that past history and family relationships play out in succeeding generations. It is especially interesting to learn what else the various actors on Salem's small stage did in their lives, and why in some cases brilliant careers were damned by this one incident. In other cases, we understand that a participant went on to greater honors not because of the witch trials but despite them.
To my mind, the book's only fault is that the conclusion, "Did Seventeenth-Century Living Conditions Predispose English Settlers to Witch Hunts?" seems hurried and incomplete. Perhaps the question as stated was not the question her book answered.
Her bibliography will be useful for any scholar of New England history.
Ms. Fouldes takes an interesting approach and provides new connections and new meanings for the events of 1692. She has researched the lives of the primary accusers and the victims to let her readers see them as people with lives before and (with the exception of those executed) after the trials. She has also researched the lives of those who allowed the events to proceed and escalate and finally subside - the clergy, the judges and the elite. In doing so, she places Salem and its troubles into the larger context of the Puritan world.
Readers will understand the Puritan mindset a little more, and the ways that past history and family relationships play out in succeeding generations. It is especially interesting to learn what else the various actors on Salem's small stage did in their lives, and why in some cases brilliant careers were damned by this one incident. In other cases, we understand that a participant went on to greater honors not because of the witch trials but despite them.
To my mind, the book's only fault is that the conclusion, "Did Seventeenth-Century Living Conditions Predispose English Settlers to Witch Hunts?" seems hurried and incomplete. Perhaps the question as stated was not the question her book answered.
Her bibliography will be useful for any scholar of New England history.
October 1, 2022
There is certainly no shortage of books regarding one of the most curious, and certainly tragic, episodes in American history, so it takes some creativity to pen a book with a new and interesting take on a highly-researched and well-published topic. This book takes a more personal approach and attempts to "humanize" all of the various figures involved in the Salem witch trials by focusing on the figures themselves rather than the events which unfolded more than three centuries past. In truth, after reading it, this is one I would probably keep on hand as a reference book than one to be read cover to cover, although the details regarding each person do eventually provide a comprehensive portrait of this highly fractured society perpetually on the edge of survival.
The book's chapters are divided into brief sections on key individuals who played a role in the events which transpired: it's organized into the general headings of The Accusers, The Victims, The Clergy, The Judges, and The Elite. It should be noted that one of the difficulties, however, is that there is not infrequently substantial overlap in the categories: some were both accusers (and occasionally even clergy and elites) and eventual victims, but I get the idea. Society in Salem was certainly stratified, so this is a generally effective method of organization. As above, and since it requires a fair degree of familiarity with the events in Salem, I would consider this more a reference book than one to be read independently, especially if you are expecting a chronological narrative of the trials. Also: although it might be somewhat difficult and cumbersome, I would like to see many more source references throughout, as it is vital to see exactly what records the information is drawn from with respect to the individuals included, and whether the information is derived from letters, trial records or transcripts, census records and the like.
There is still a fair degree that can be learned, however, particularly from examining the details of the lives of the various figures involved. At least from what is presented in the book, which is admittedly selective, and often brief, the categories reveal a pervasive near caste system which permeated the lives of each and every village and town inhabitant, from the slaves (Tituba and John Indian), to the servants, who were often no more than children themselves, more often than not indigent orphans with no other prospects than to enter service, to their masters and the household children, to the masters of the inhabitants, the clergy, whose dictates affected every aspect of village life.
The accusers, not surprisingly, were almost without exception from the lowest of the lower class, teenage servant girls, as stated, often orphans with few prospects of escaping their grim fate of a life of servitude, and possibly eventual marriage to whomever would have them. The exceptions were the daughters of some of the wealthy and prominent village inhabitants, most notably Ann Putnam, Jr. and the Parris girls, one of whom, Abigail, was an orphan herself.
Another common feature shared by the accusers was trauma: most had seen death and destruction at a young age, everything from capture by Indians, in some cases by those who had tortured and killed their victims, to girls who had experienced the deaths of their parents and been forced into servitude for survival, to those who were viciously repressed in every aspect of their lives by fanatical religious zealots who ruled their households with an iron rod, probably not metaphorically. Many a young girl, bored with the tedium and exhausting labors heaped upon her by indifferent masters, would relish the opportunity to vent her frustrations, often at those whom she deemed at least somewhat responsible, in the case of Mary Warren, the Proctors' orphaned servant, or, in the case of both the Parris girls, to curry favor with their relatives and for some oft-denied attention.
The Victims were far more diverse, illustrating that once the smouldering embers of jealousy and envy flared, the situation quickly spiraled out of control. Victims herein refers to the twenty-four people who died, either in jail due to unimaginably harsh conditions or from execution by hanging, and, in the case of 80-year-old Giles Corey, who refused to cooperate with the proceedings to ensure that his children would inherit the property he had spent a lifetime accumulating, days of being "pressed," or crushed to death with rocks.
The Victims ranged from what one might expect to be labeled a stereotypical witch, a clearly mentally ill woman (if not her five-year-old daughter), a destitute beggar woman, to an independent-minded proprietor of her own tavern and apple orchard, to what one would refer to as "respectable" women, the wives of farmers and common townspeople, as in the case of both husband and wife Proctor (John was executed, while Elizabeth's life was spared because she was pregnant, and remained so long enough for the fervor to die down), to some of the most respected citizens of the town, elderly Rebecca nurse, whose relatives were also accused, but survived, and even a minister himself, in the case of George Burroughs. Also, in a somewhat unusual turn for a proverbial "witch hunt," nearly a third of the Victims were men.
Generalities can likewise be drawn from the Clery, Judges and Elites, who were more well-to-do than those they governed, generally, but their relationships were just as rife with jealousy, competition and not infrequently outright hostility as well. It is clear from this tragic episode of American history that the often-stereotyped strict and godly "Puritans" were anything but; they were just as susceptible to the human foibles they railed against as anyone else not of their particular brand of religious fanaticism.
In general, this was a good reference book, but I would have liked to have seen more detail regarding the individual figures, if possible, but information is admittedly spotty in many cases (many simply disappear from the historical record after the trials), and, as above, I would have definitely liked to have seen many more citations which provided the source of the data which was included.
The book's chapters are divided into brief sections on key individuals who played a role in the events which transpired: it's organized into the general headings of The Accusers, The Victims, The Clergy, The Judges, and The Elite. It should be noted that one of the difficulties, however, is that there is not infrequently substantial overlap in the categories: some were both accusers (and occasionally even clergy and elites) and eventual victims, but I get the idea. Society in Salem was certainly stratified, so this is a generally effective method of organization. As above, and since it requires a fair degree of familiarity with the events in Salem, I would consider this more a reference book than one to be read independently, especially if you are expecting a chronological narrative of the trials. Also: although it might be somewhat difficult and cumbersome, I would like to see many more source references throughout, as it is vital to see exactly what records the information is drawn from with respect to the individuals included, and whether the information is derived from letters, trial records or transcripts, census records and the like.
There is still a fair degree that can be learned, however, particularly from examining the details of the lives of the various figures involved. At least from what is presented in the book, which is admittedly selective, and often brief, the categories reveal a pervasive near caste system which permeated the lives of each and every village and town inhabitant, from the slaves (Tituba and John Indian), to the servants, who were often no more than children themselves, more often than not indigent orphans with no other prospects than to enter service, to their masters and the household children, to the masters of the inhabitants, the clergy, whose dictates affected every aspect of village life.
The accusers, not surprisingly, were almost without exception from the lowest of the lower class, teenage servant girls, as stated, often orphans with few prospects of escaping their grim fate of a life of servitude, and possibly eventual marriage to whomever would have them. The exceptions were the daughters of some of the wealthy and prominent village inhabitants, most notably Ann Putnam, Jr. and the Parris girls, one of whom, Abigail, was an orphan herself.
Another common feature shared by the accusers was trauma: most had seen death and destruction at a young age, everything from capture by Indians, in some cases by those who had tortured and killed their victims, to girls who had experienced the deaths of their parents and been forced into servitude for survival, to those who were viciously repressed in every aspect of their lives by fanatical religious zealots who ruled their households with an iron rod, probably not metaphorically. Many a young girl, bored with the tedium and exhausting labors heaped upon her by indifferent masters, would relish the opportunity to vent her frustrations, often at those whom she deemed at least somewhat responsible, in the case of Mary Warren, the Proctors' orphaned servant, or, in the case of both the Parris girls, to curry favor with their relatives and for some oft-denied attention.
The Victims were far more diverse, illustrating that once the smouldering embers of jealousy and envy flared, the situation quickly spiraled out of control. Victims herein refers to the twenty-four people who died, either in jail due to unimaginably harsh conditions or from execution by hanging, and, in the case of 80-year-old Giles Corey, who refused to cooperate with the proceedings to ensure that his children would inherit the property he had spent a lifetime accumulating, days of being "pressed," or crushed to death with rocks.
The Victims ranged from what one might expect to be labeled a stereotypical witch, a clearly mentally ill woman (if not her five-year-old daughter), a destitute beggar woman, to an independent-minded proprietor of her own tavern and apple orchard, to what one would refer to as "respectable" women, the wives of farmers and common townspeople, as in the case of both husband and wife Proctor (John was executed, while Elizabeth's life was spared because she was pregnant, and remained so long enough for the fervor to die down), to some of the most respected citizens of the town, elderly Rebecca nurse, whose relatives were also accused, but survived, and even a minister himself, in the case of George Burroughs. Also, in a somewhat unusual turn for a proverbial "witch hunt," nearly a third of the Victims were men.
Generalities can likewise be drawn from the Clery, Judges and Elites, who were more well-to-do than those they governed, generally, but their relationships were just as rife with jealousy, competition and not infrequently outright hostility as well. It is clear from this tragic episode of American history that the often-stereotyped strict and godly "Puritans" were anything but; they were just as susceptible to the human foibles they railed against as anyone else not of their particular brand of religious fanaticism.
In general, this was a good reference book, but I would have liked to have seen more detail regarding the individual figures, if possible, but information is admittedly spotty in many cases (many simply disappear from the historical record after the trials), and, as above, I would have definitely liked to have seen many more citations which provided the source of the data which was included.
January 11, 2011
More a compilation of biographical information than a new study, Death in Salem presents brief vignettes about the principals involved in the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692/3. Most of the accused witches were ordinary people who left few clues about how they came to be victimized, but more is known about the ministers and the judges, many of whom were wealthy and well connected politically. Foulds's book is written for a popular rather than a scholarly audience; it can serve as a quick reference, but don't look for anything groundbreaking here.
July 26, 2015
I just started part 2 and love this book. I've read a lot on the Salem Witch events but I haven't read a book that is broken down like this one is. If anyone is interested in this part of our History I would say grab it. I found this book at the Salem Witch museum in Salem, Mass and was able to borrow it from my Library.
I just finished this book and would recommend this if your interested in the Salem trials. I love how the Author gave an account of each of the victims and those that accused. I have never found that in any of the other books I've read on the subject. Very well written
I just finished this book and would recommend this if your interested in the Salem trials. I love how the Author gave an account of each of the victims and those that accused. I have never found that in any of the other books I've read on the subject. Very well written
July 12, 2018
not a great resource on the salem witch trials; supposed to cover each person involved, but rarely cites sources for any claims made about the people or their lives, uses inconsistent language to describe the accusers as either afflicted or pretending, is low-key misogynistic in language used to talk about the young women, and doesn't really go into much depth on anybody. not very scholarly or academic, not something i will even use to reference in future.
April 21, 2021
I just finished reading THE WITCHES OF SALEM, 1692, by Stacy Schiff (Pulitzer Prize-winning author of CLEOPATRA), which so is appreciably thorough that I chose to follow through with DEATH IN SALEM since I’m already familiar with the “cast” and I frankly appreciate FOULDS’ more private history. I also relate to her mission to research her own ancestor, as I still do with my 10th and 11th ancestors’ immigration to America to settle in PA and VA.
There were, sadly, few of the many records taken of the Salem trials that remained, many “official records” destroyed soon after the trials due to their collective shame which they wanted to ignore to get back to normal life. Foulds names several accusers who had been traumatized as children by warrior Indians, finding this as one possible source of accuser’s claiming witches’ tortures. Some accusers named witches that happened to have families with grudges and property disputes. Some had no knowable excuses for their behavior or accusations. All witches claimed “the devil made me do it” – some signed pacts. Some “confessed to being witches” to hopefully avoid being accused themselves when they observed the accusers didn’t get punished, but accused went to prison to await trials that never happened before they died in prison. There were no witch burnings in Salem; they were hung and one old man was crushed to death. Everyone suffered consequences: Clergy, Authorities, Accusers and Accused (mostly by their own families), Neighbors, Villagers and Townspeople for miles around.
A good book to fill in backgrounds of those involved.
There were, sadly, few of the many records taken of the Salem trials that remained, many “official records” destroyed soon after the trials due to their collective shame which they wanted to ignore to get back to normal life. Foulds names several accusers who had been traumatized as children by warrior Indians, finding this as one possible source of accuser’s claiming witches’ tortures. Some accusers named witches that happened to have families with grudges and property disputes. Some had no knowable excuses for their behavior or accusations. All witches claimed “the devil made me do it” – some signed pacts. Some “confessed to being witches” to hopefully avoid being accused themselves when they observed the accusers didn’t get punished, but accused went to prison to await trials that never happened before they died in prison. There were no witch burnings in Salem; they were hung and one old man was crushed to death. Everyone suffered consequences: Clergy, Authorities, Accusers and Accused (mostly by their own families), Neighbors, Villagers and Townspeople for miles around.
A good book to fill in backgrounds of those involved.
February 27, 2023
I bought this book years ago during my trip to Salem. I've always been intrigued by the Salem Witch Trials and the driving force behind them. This book did a great job skimming the surface on the people involved, what society was like at the time, and a broad historical timeline of the events. I appreciated how it was laid out and the mini biographies of all of the players associated with the trials. I also enjoyed reading about Foulds' take on what influenced the trials and the reasons the accusers may have had for their assertions towards the victims. One aspect I would have appreciated in the book would have been a family tree of sorts, linking all of the people the book talked about. Many of them were related by blood or marriage and it got a bit confusing trying to remember who was linked to who.
May 1, 2021
It was a very interesting read. As many others have stated, it goes more into detail about the lives of the Accused, the Accusers, the Clergy, and the Elite. I know some of the basics of the Salem Witch trials, but it was interesting to read more about the people involved than an academic book about why the witch trials happened (though I've always been interested in the trials). Though sometimes a bit boring (as it is history), it was still a unique perspective on the petty squabbling and finger point in the communities afflicted by the witch trials.
Fun Fact: After I literally just read about Cotton Mather, a Jeopardy question was asking about his role in this event during the late 1600s! Coincidence, perhaps!!
Fun Fact: After I literally just read about Cotton Mather, a Jeopardy question was asking about his role in this event during the late 1600s! Coincidence, perhaps!!
November 12, 2018
The chapters I liked the most were the ones on the elite and the judges, because there was more information on them than on the accused and accusers. I was hoping for more depth into the sociological, historical and psychological reasons behind the executions, but the book offered superficial facts about the people involved. I don't feel like I learned much about the "why".
July 22, 2019
A great read about everyone involved in the Salem witchcraft trials. Foulds did her research and really delved deep into the history of 1600s Salem, MA. I love the way she told each person's story. This would be a great book for a casual reader, someone really interested in the trials, or for a student with a project. Highly recommend.
July 12, 2022
A wonderful little primer into the people that made up (no pun intended) the Salem Witch Trials. Accusers, Victims, Judges, Clergy and Elites are covered with a few pages dedicated to each significant figure. Want a nice easy going read as an intro into the people of Salem in 1692, then Ms Foulds has you covered.
July 25, 2022
I was quite disappointed with this book, I thought it would give me an insight into what caused this mass hysteria but nope e.g. the book told of 'people being arrested as witches for causing harm' but not saying what harm that was. Lots of mini biographies which gave a good insight into living in the 1600's but, for me, it could have been anywhere in the world not just Salem.
March 21, 2017
Really loved the format. Having tried to slog through The Witches and gotten completely lost amid the weeds of different family interrelationships and who turned on who and why and when, I found this structure (accusers, accused, judges, the elite) to be perfect for me. Very absorbing.
November 21, 2017
This book is organized as a series of brief biographies on the various people involved in the Salem Witch Trials so it lacks any sort of narrative flow that would make it a compelling read. It is, however, a very good starting point for anyone doing research into the witch trials.
July 5, 2022
This was such an interesting book. It goes into the lives of those in the front of the Salem witch trials. It gives a small history of the accusers, accused, clergy, judges and elite. I really enjoyed it.
October 26, 2017
After finding through ANCESTRY, that I am related to Sarah WIldes, I found this book immensely interesting.
March 7, 2018
Loved this.
December 27, 2018
Interesting detail into the lives of the individuals on both sides of the witch trials.
January 18, 2019
I couldn’t even finish it.
I found the layout of the book (mini bios) to be incredibly boring.
The book had been bought because the subject matter was intriguing but the execution was disappointing.
I found the layout of the book (mini bios) to be incredibly boring.
The book had been bought because the subject matter was intriguing but the execution was disappointing.
January 13, 2021
I was very excited to read this book, but never finished it. The writing was choppy and the way it was written made it hard for me relate. Short chapters with limited info.
December 15, 2022
Interesting behind the scenes look at the people of the era
June 14, 2024
Unbiased facts about the people involved and what happened to them afterwards.
July 7, 2023
Interesting and educational, but not super entertaining once you get outside of The Accused and The Afflicted.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews