Witches & Historians: Interpretations of Salem

by Marc Mappen (Editor)

New edition of the 1980 study of the Salem witch trials (that was included in BCL3 ). Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Witches

140 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1979

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read a host of these 'The American Problem Studies' books for history courses at Maine Township High School South in Park Ridge, Illinois. All of them are topical, with a range of opinions about the topic presented by means of articles or excerpts from books--quite suitable if you're looking to start a classroom discussion.

This particular volume consists of fifteen essays circling about the Salem witch craze 0f 1692. Published in 1980, it features one unconvincing essay suggesting ergot poisoning as the culprit.

[Maura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good slim volume that gives you a brief history of how the Salem trials have been explained/talked about by historians over the years, starting from accounts by people who lived through them up until the publication of the book in 1979.

It covers pretty much all the major angles; the girls were lying, the girls were driven literally insane by puritanism, the girls were acting as their land hungry parents puppets, the judges were power mad, some of the accused actually were guilty of attempting to curse people, the ergot theory, a more convincing explanation on why ergot doesn't really fit, etc.

It also touches on basic questions like "why is Salem even such a big deal?" "Why was there so much LESS witch hysteria in America than in Europ?"

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great overview of the 17 major primary and secondary (contemporary) studies and theses on the Salem Witch Trial period of New England, and gives a pretty fair assessment of each book or paper.
At the end of the book Marc Mappen gives a list of "additional suggested readings" meant to help the budding "demonologist" (JK) along in his or her studies.
I highly recommend it.
PMZ

[Hank Pharis · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good collection of various interpretations of the Salem Witch trials over the last 200+ years. Not surprisingly there are a lot of diverse explanations as to what exactly happened. Typically it seems that most authors find what they want to find.