Introduction: An Old Valuables Chest
Chapter One: Satan's Storm
Chapter Two: The City upon a Hill
Chapter Three: Drawing Battle Lines in Salem Village
Chapter Four: The Afflicted
Chapter Five: The Accused
Chapter Six: The Judges
Chapter Seven: An Inextinguishable Flame
Chapter Eight: Salem End
Chapter Nine: Witch City?
Emerson W. Baker is Professor of History at Salem State University. He is the author of The Devil of Great Island: Witchcraft and Conflict in Early New England, and co-author of an award-winning biography of Sir William Phips.
"This is a necessary book for all of those who seek to find a
balanced way to approach the time period, as the scale on which it
is written provides an insight not only into the trials themselves,
but into the lives of the turbulent and diverse populations that
inhabited the American colonies."--Jeff Senger, Nova Religio
"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, Christian
Theological Seminary
"...[A] cogent, readable, and comprehensive analysis of the
literature on the Salem witch trials.... His 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." --Journal of
American History
"Of many books about the Salem witch-trials, only a few really
matter. This is one of them. Combining deep learning and
clear-sighted good sense, A Storm of Witchcraft retells a story
that has long managed to be familiar yet puzzling and
misunderstood. Emerson Baker's masterly dissection of events is
both genuinely original and utterly persuasive, not least because
the importance of political circumstance, legal expediency and
personal relationships
seems obvious once it is pointed out. Baker reminds us that
witchcraft was above all a religious crime, which took on
terrifying significance at a time of extreme danger in New
England's history. But his analysis
of Salem's causal roots and painfully enduring ramifications does
more than just demystify the trials: it illustrates universal
truths about human emotions and their place in modern society."
--Malcolm Gaskill, author of Witchfinders: a Seventeenth Century
English Tragedy
"Baker, professor of history at Salem State College, places the
trials in the larger context of American and English history,
examining not only their prominent place in our collective memory,
but also what made them so different from other witch trials of the
era. Baker convincingly demonstrates that the trials were a pivotal
point in American history and presents the mass hysteria
surrounding them in very poignant terms." --Publisher's Weekly
"This extraordinarily researched, expertly written, and convincing
study is suitable for and will appeal to a wide audience."
--Library Journal
"By almost any measure, Emerson W. Baker's new history, A Storm of
Witchcraft, is a masterpiece. Few volumes pass the exacting
standards needed to be described as such. Baker's does.... Anyone
interested in the Salem witch trials and the shaping of the nation
should treat themselves to this book." --Maine Sunday Telegram
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