Reference Reviews

Lawrence Looks at Books

The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide. K. David Gross. 189p. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008. 978-0-313-32095-8; 2007-38695. $55.

The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide Although more than 300 years have passed since they occurred, the Salem witch trials continue to command the interest of students, scholars and the general public. Many are drawn to the events where nearly 200 men and women were accused of practicing witchcraft. Of those, nineteen were sent to the gallows. One eighty-year-old farmer refused to stand trial and was crushed to death during a court-sanctioned torture process intended to coerce his cooperation. At least four more died in prison. Another fifty confessed to witchcraft and were spared. Others suffered imprisonment and confiscation of their property. A lucky few fled Massachusetts for New York. Many interpretations have been made of these tragic events: mass hysteria, community conflict, the triumph of superstition over reason, a failure of jurisprudence, the social persecution of poor and marginalized women and hallucinations induced by contaminated grain.

Historian David Gross collects and reviews the evidence for these events. His guide consists of three major parts. In five thematic essays, he examines seventeenth-century beliefs in witchcraft; the sequence of events involving the accusations and the trials; the views of contemporary regarding the trials; historical interpretations; and the cultural impact of the trials. A second section provides brief biographies of the major participants, including accusers, victims, judges and magistrates. A key section presents 50 primary documents from the trial, including warrants, confessions, depositions, court testimony and indictments. A brief chronology, a glossary of terms and a selective bibliography provide additional assistance. This assemblage of information and evidence allows the reader to draw their own conclusions regarding the witch trials. This collection on a perennially popular topic will serve high school, public and academic audiences.
—John R.M. Lawrence