A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience (Pivotal Moments in American History) - Hardcover

Baker's work is a model of responsible historiography ... I anticipate that his historiography will serve as a model for other historians as they deal with similarly complex subjects ... His rock solid historical work and lively, engaging prose made this book both an indispensable contribution to scholarship and a delight to read. I suspect that this is the book on Salem witchcraft for this generation. (Scott D. Seay, American Historical Review)

Baker's book takes a broader picture than many ... [looking] at the relationships between the accusers and the accused, but, more perhaps uniquely into the often close family relationships between the judges. (Peter Rogerson, Magonia)

a cogent, readable, and comprehensive analysis of the literature on the Salem witch trials ... [Baker's] emphasis on the choices made by individuals ― to take action or remain passive ― makes this work a welcome addition to our attempts to understand the significance of the Salem events of 1692. (Elaine G. Breslaw, Journal of American History)

an excellent survey of the state of knowledge and opinion concerning the Salem witch trials and their implications. (Clive Holmes, English Historical Review)

I found it a really fascinating book. ...once I had started reading it I couldn't put it down. As history books go, I found it is a real page-turner. (A Bad Witch's Blog)

Beginning in January 1692, Salem Village in colonial Massachusetts witnessed the largest and most lethal outbreak of witchcraft in early America. Villagers―mainly young women―suffered from unseen torments that caused them to writhe, shriek, and contort their bodies, complaining of pins stuck into their flesh and of being haunted by specters. Believing that they suffered from assaults by an invisible spirit, the community began a hunt to track down those responsible for the demonic work. The resulting Salem Witch Trials, culminating in the execution of 19 villagers, persists as one of the most mysterious and fascinating events in American history.

Historians have speculated on a web of possible causes for the witchcraft that stated in Salem and spread across the region-religious crisis, ergot poisoning, an encephalitis outbreak, frontier war hysteria―but most agree that there was no single factor. Rather, as Emerson Baker illustrates in this seminal new work, Salem was "a perfect storm": a unique convergence of conditions and events that produced something extraordinary throughout New England in 1692 and the following years, and which has haunted us ever since.

Baker shows how a range of factors in the Bay colony in the 1690s, including a new charter and government, a lethal frontier war, and religious and political conflicts, set the stage for the dramatic events in Salem. Engaging a range of perspectives, he looks at the key players in the outbreak―the accused witches and the people they allegedly bewitched, as well as the judges and government officials who prosecuted them―and wrestles with questions about why the Salem tragedy unfolded as it did, and why it has become an enduring legacy.

Salem in 1692 was a critical moment for the fading Puritan government of Massachusetts Bay, whose attempts to suppress the story of the trials and erase them from memory only fueled the popular imagination. Baker argues that the trials marked a turning point in colonial history from Puritan communalism to Yankee independence, from faith in collective conscience to skepticism toward moral governance. A brilliantly told tale, A Storm of Witchcraft also puts Salem's storm into its broader context as a part of the ongoing narrative of American history and the history of the Atlantic World.