Death in salem: the private lives behind the 1692 witch hunt - diane foulds

Salem witchcraft will always have a magnetic pull on the American psyche.

During the 1692 witch trials, more than 150 people were arrested.

An estimated 25 million Americans-including author Diane Foulds-are descended from the twenty individuals executed.

What happened to our ancestors? Death in Salem is the first book to take a clear-eyed look at this complex time, by examining the lives of the witch trial participants from a personal perspective.

Massachusetts settlers led difficult lives; every player in the Salem drama endured hardships barely imaginable today.

Mercy Short, one of the bewitched girls, watched as Indians butchered her parents; Puritan minister Cotton Mather outlived all but three of his fifteen children.

Such tragedies shaped behavior and, as Foulds argues, ultimately played a part in the witch hunts outcome.

A compelling whos who to Salem witchcraft, Death in Salem profiles each of these historical personalities as it asks: Why was this person targeted? Salem witchcraft will always have a magnetic pull on the American psyche.

During the 1692 witch trials, more than 150 people were arrested.

An estimated 25 million Americans--including author Diane Foulds--are descended from the twenty individuals executed.

What happened to our ancestors? Death in Salem is the first book to take a clear-eyed look at this complex time, by examining the lives of the witch trial participants from a personal perspective.

Massachusetts settlers led difficult lives; every player in the Salem drama endured hardships barely imaginable today.

Mercy Short, one of the bewitched girls, watched as Indians butchered her parents; Puritan minister Cotton Mather outlived all but three of his fifteen children.

Such tragedies shaped behavior and, as Foulds argues, ultimately played a part in the witch hunts outcome.

A compelling whos who to Salem witchcraft, Death in Salem profiles each of these historical personalities as it asks: Why was this person targeted? Salem witchcraft will always have a magnetic pull on the American psyche.

During the 1692 witch trials, more than 150 people were arrested.

An estimated 25 million Americans--including author Diane Foulds--are descended from the twenty individuals executed.

What happened to our ancestors? Death in Salem is the first book to take a clear-eyed look at this complex time, by examining the lives of the witch trial participants from a personal perspective.

Massachusetts settlers led difficult lives;.