Killing the Witches
The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts
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4.1 • 385 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The Instant New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller!
Killing the Witches revisits one of the most frightening and inexplicable episodes in American history: the events of 1692 and 1693 in Salem Village, Massachusetts. What began as a mysterious affliction of two young girls who suffered violent fits and exhibited strange behavior soon spread to other young women. Rumors of demonic possession and witchcraft consumed Salem. Soon three women were arrested under suspicion of being witches--but as the hysteria spread, more than 200 people were accused. Thirty were found guilty, twenty were executed, and others died in jail or their lives were ruined.
Killing the Witches tells the dramatic history of how the Puritan tradition and the power of early American ministers shaped the origins of the United States, influencing the founding fathers, the American Revolution, and even the Constitutional Convention. The repercussions of Salem continue to the present day, notably in the real-life story behind The Exorcist and in contemporary “witch hunts” driven by social media. The result is a compulsively readable book about good, evil, community panic, and how fear can overwhelm fact and reason.
Customer Reviews
Great Book!
👍
Wrong links
This book contains links to additional information about the currently read topic.
The problem is the links are off by one. In other words, if you’re reading about a topic and come to a link, when you click on the link, it takes you to information about the prior topic you read. This means, if you want to read the additional information about the current topic, you have to scan ahead in the book until you find the next link. The information provided there will apply to the prior topic you were reading in the book. You then have to page back to where you left off in the book so you can continue reading.
Very poor quality control on making sure the links take you to the appropriate topic.
Part Witches, Part Other
This book is roughly one third Salem witch trials, one third religious freedom, and one third The Exorcist. I did remain interested despite the book’s subjects feeling disjointed but I would not recommend this book for readers wanting to concentrate on the events of Salem.