The Salem Witch Trials Reader

by Frances Hill

Against the backdrop of a Puritan theocracy threatened by change, in a population terrified not only of eternal damnation but of the earthly dangers of Indian massacres and recurrent smallpox epidemics, a small group of girls denounces a black slave and others as worshipers of Satan. Within two years, twenty men and women are hanged or pressed to death and over a hundred others imprisoned and impoverished. In The Salem Witch Trials Reader , Frances Hill provides and astutely comments upon the actual documents from the trial--examinations of suspected witches, eyewitness accounts of "Satanic influence," as well as the testimony of those who retained their reason and defied the madness. Always drawing on firsthand documents, she illustrates the historical background to the witchhunt and shows how the trials have been represented, and sometimes distorted, by historians--and how they have fired the imaginations of poets, playwrights, and novelists. For those fascinated by the Salem witch trials, this is compelling reading and the sourcebook.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Witches, American History, Feminism, Religion, Research

440 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2000

Reviews

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

My immediate interest in the Salem witch trials of the late 17th-century was due to an article I read surrounding the theory that the behavior of the so-called witches was believed to be the cause of ergot, a disease of the grains many of the townspeople were ingesting. The discussion of ergot in this book fell a little over halfway through the book in the section, Historians. I pushed myself to stay awake primarily to read it as I was beginning to think it was not going to be discussed at all.

The entire book is filled with interesting tidbits of information, cultural references, lengthy attacks by good ol' Increase and Cotton Mather (oh, the names!) and several moments of contemporary panic (ie, "OMG, people really believed that?"... but then we have people today who really believe in our current government, so...).

Along with the ergot and the Mather family diatribes, the other point of interest for me were the discussions surrounding Nathaniel Hawthorne. While the sections did not deal solely with him exactly, they did deal with his great-great-grandfather who happened to be magistrate at the executions of the witches - this led to Hawthorne feeling shame and guilt over his ancestry and caused him to add the 'w' in the original family name, Hathorne.

This turned out to be a very nice birthday present, right up my alley. Thank you, Josiah!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would like to have seen more of the trial transcripts, and more excerpts from Wonders of the Invisible World.

[Scott09g · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one up while visiting Salem a few years ago. There were about 30 different books about the Witch Trials on sale at one of their Gift Shops, and I asked the staff which one was the most thorough and accurate. One of their seasoned employees told me she had worked at that shop for 30 years and had read every book they sold. She recommended this one, saying that it was one of her top two favorites. I was sold when she told me it contained a lot of original journal entries, minutes and court documents. Well, she wasn't wrong. This book is 98% copy/pasted material written by other people, with single-paragraph introductions to each section being the only original content from the Author. The authentic documents from the Trials only make up roughly the first half of the book. Reading through them was illuminating, but also pretty dry and often times irrelevant. The last half of the book is (and I'm not exagerating here) ENTIRE chapters from books by other historians, fiction authors and playwrites. These were entertaining, but unnecessary. I was wanting a Helter Skelter equivalent for the Witch Trials; something that walks you through the places, events, and possible motives in chronological order; something that offered even brief biographicals about the people involved. This books offers very little if that. What this book is is Supplement. Its geared more toward people who already have an understanding of who's who, what's where, and everything else that happened in Salem, and are seeking to enrich the history they're already familiar with. This book is to the Salem Which Trials what Tom O'Niels Chaos is to the Manson Murders. It's informative, but not one for beginners.

[Ophelia MJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting and informative book. It was really cool reading point of views from people who where there, and learning the politics of the town. I really enjoyed how it explained both the accused stories, and accounts of what happened to the accused. Its horrific to imagine this happend. This is basically a book of past accounts, with the authors explanations in between. I really enjoyed this, but i think if you read this book, you'll still want to read more about the Trials. It wasnt enough for me.

[Kimber · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love learning about the Salem Witch Trials, but I struggled through every page of this book and basically have no idea what I just read. Old English is hard to understand, which is not the author/editor’s fault, and that was part of it - but I guess I didn’t realize that all this book was going to be was excerpts from other books/sources just compiled. I especially didn’t understand the point of including excerpts from fiction out of context of the rest of the work.

[Doreen Petersen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave this book a one star rating for the simple reason that it only told the story from the side of the accusers and not those falsely accused and executed. What a great disservice it does to the dark history of this period. If you want A more well rounded account of this period I would suggest another book and don't bother with this one.

[Chelsea Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admittedly on read the first half which were the original sources curated to tell their own story and it was fabulous. Very disturbing event.

[Drac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty decent compilation, can’t complain. It’s not by any means a complete record, but I personally don’t need that, so I’m still giving it 4 stars.

[Maranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great research for someone wanting to learn about the Salem witch hysteria of 1692. I recommend to all history students.

[Alex Kesen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Salem Witch Trials is historical nonfiction novel in chronological order of the events that occurred in Massachusetts In 1486 the Puritans brought supernatural beliefs to England and caused people to die. Ratisbon was a young guy who was interacting with a girl. She touched his body and said "if persuasion is not enough,you must use some violence to induce her to restore to you your health." He tied a towel around her neck because he wanted the "witch" to give him his health back. The novel gives a better understanding of what happened, everyone's perspective, and gives you an idea of what happened to the people who were witches.

The book is appealing because it involves history and it can allow you to learn more about the Salem Witch Trials and why they occurred. Another person would enjoy reading this book if they have an interest in American History. Also, if they like to find out how they dealt with supernatural beliefs in the 1400's that were effecting Americans.

[Hannah]

Did not finish, but in this case it wasn't because it was an unreadable book. On the contrary, this was an excellent compillation of first-hand reference materials from the time of the Salem Witch trials. Any serious fan of this time period and event would be well served to read this.

I'm sure I would prefer another of Hill's books: A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials, which appears to be a straight forward non-fictional account of the event and not a reference book of source material.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book seems to be well-researched if you are looking at it from the villagers' points of view. I like the quotations from the different people who were involved or were onlookers, but it is very dry reading, and sometimes hard to follow. I wasn't able to finish reading it because of its dryness--I found that very frustrating.

[Katrina Bergherm · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lots of excerpts from items published during the time of the trials, made it hard to read. I was hoping for more of a narrative telling of events.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book for researching the trials.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting a lot more from this book. I've always been heavily interested in the Salem Witch trials... I've read books, watched documentaries, written essays, etc. This book was quite dense and I couldn't get therough it. I read excerpts here and there but it failed to keep my interest.