Da Capo![]() |
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The New Yorker |
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"Which sticks must be laid, and in what pattern, on the political and cultural and social bonfire in order to start a blaze like the Salem witch trials or the McCarthy hearings or, as Frances Hill points out in her introduction, the McMartin Pre-School case in California, in which seven people were acquitted of Satanic child sex abuse? Between June 10 and Sept. 22, 1692, 19 people were hanged for witchcraft, and one was pressed to death. . . . This book contains excerpts from such texts as the 1608 "A Discourse on the Damned Art of Witchcraft" and the first book on witchcraft, written in 1486, "Malleus Maleficarum" (Witch Hammer). Excerpts from Parris' sermons and letters and various court documents, as well as excerpts from historians explanations (from Cotton Mather to Elaine Breslaw's 1996 book on Tituba), provide at least a taste of every ingredient in this American episode." Los Angeles Times |
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"The voices behind the Salem witch trials have come alive, but they aren't meant to conjure up a Halloween haunting. British author Frances Hill has written a book that provides a genuine historical perspective on the witchhunt by using first-person accounts from the infamous 17th century trials that led to 20 people being executed and hundreds of others sent to prison." The Miami Herald ". . . it is easy to marvel at this intriguing collection of excerpts. . ." Library Journal, New York, NY "An invaluable resource." Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God "Superb . . . edited with intelligence and imagination." Susan Cahill, editor of Wise Women "Must reading for anyone interested in early American history." Alan Schaffer, Clemson University |