Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
A Storm of Witchcraft
A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience | Emerson W. Baker
15 posts | 7 read | 18 to read
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.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
blurb
MoonWitch94
post image

Oh Heather!!! This box 📦 is SO COOL! Thank you so much for this thoughtful, creepy, spooky package of Halloween Fun! I love everything! I loved unwrapping the items from the cobwebs. 🕸 Thank you again. Happy Halloween! 🎃

Thank you @wanderinglynn for hosting this fun, festive swap! #HappyHalloween #HHS #HauntedHallowswap

wanderinglynn What a fun box! 🎃🖤🧡☠️ 3y
AmyG The eyes!!!!! 🖤 3y
Bookgoil Omg so fun! Hahaha love it! 3y
Pageturner1 Your welcome!!! So glad it made it intact. Hope you like the extra book I picked out. It sounded good to me. 3y
MoonWitch94 @wanderinglynn @AmyG @Bookgoil Yes! So fun & the eyes were such a surprise, I giggled when I opened the box. Very clever. @Pageturner1 Yes! It looks intriguing; good find! 3y
53 likes5 comments
review
jenniferw88
post image
Mehso-so

I really wanted to enjoy this more than I did but I think it's more of a formatting issue. It's got quite a small font which made it difficult to read at the time I normally do (at bedtime), & it would have been easier if there were gaps between each different person mentioned because it leaps around a bit.

At 8 1/4 hours #24b4monday @SumisBooks @Andrew65 @jb72 @mabell

3 1/2 ⭐ ⬇️

jenniferw88 Also doing quite well with a reading challenge over on Goodreads - this book completes the #massachusetts tag of #witches! 4y
Andrew65 A great time. 👏👏👏 4y
Catherine_Willoughby I hate very small fronts or extra large fronts (soms hardbacks) 4y
mabell I‘m sorry it wasn‘t better! But great job checking off a prompt! 4y
95 likes4 comments
blurb
jenniferw88
post image

#weeklyforecast 23/2/20 @Cinfhen

Finish tagged book - 1 chapter left so expect review shortly

Start and probably finish the Oscar Wilde book, and then see where my mood takes me for any other books.

@4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage and Cindy - if I manage to find & buy a book in a (breast) cancer charity shop, could this work for #thinkpink on #booked2020?

Cinfhen Sure!!! I love that twist on the prompt and supporting a charity is a wonderful bonus 💗 4y
jenniferw88 @Cinfhen 😊 it's inspired by this (I'm pretty sure the campaign was initially called #thinkpink!) https://www.wearitpink.org 4y
Cinfhen Awesomeness 💕💕💕 4y
alisiakae I think that is a wonderful interpretation of #thinkpink! 4y
jenniferw88 @4thhouseontheleft thank you! 😊 4y
74 likes5 comments
blurb
jenniferw88
post image

#bookreport week 22/2/20 @Cinfhen

Still working my way through this book but the readathon should help. (At 4 1/2 hours so far due to completing the Kosovan Bride book #24b4monday @SumisBooks @Andrew65 @jb72 )

Also the 34% is in a #bold type #reallyrandomfebruary @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

BeansPage You got this girl no worries! 💪 4y
Andrew65 Coming along nicely. 👏👏👏 4y
Cinfhen Doing great!!! 4y
78 likes3 comments
blurb
jenniferw88
post image

#bookreport week 15/2/20 @Cinfhen

Not doing so well in February - keep getting distracted by other things!

ElaineR I loved "The Invention of Nature". Didn't think I would but she's so excited by him I couldn't help but be pulled along by her enthusiasm. 4y
85 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
jenniferw88
post image

The residents of Salem were definitely not keeping #calm in 1692! #reallyrandomfebruary @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

OriginalCyn620 No, they weren‘t! 4y
Geenie 😂 4y
70 likes2 comments
blurb
jenniferw88
post image

#bookreport week 8/2/20 @Cinfhen

Finished The Dogs of Riga
At 30% for The Invention of Nature
Started A Storm of Witchcraft
Didn't get round to The Black Dahlia 😕

Crazeedi I had invention borrowed and it went back before I read it! I have to get it again 4y
78 likes2 comments
blurb
jenniferw88
post image

Nearly all the people in my current reads are in some sort of #danger at certain points. #reallyrandomfebruary @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Looks good!! 4y
OriginalCyn620 👍🏻📚😳 4y
StaceGhost Invention of nature is so good! (edited) 4y
82 likes3 comments
blurb
jenniferw88
post image

#weeklyforecast What to start?! @Cinfhen

Will tag the others in comments.

See All 20 Comments
dariazeoli I‘m biased, but go for Ove! 4y
Cinfhen Hmmmmmm, what are you in the mood for????? 4y
jenniferw88 @Cinfhen that's the problem, I don't know! Going by my choices I'd say I'm leaning towards crime. 4y
Bookwormjillk I loved Ove but it‘s definitely not crime. 4y
Cinfhen If you‘re thinking crime , I‘ve seen good reviews about this book 4y
Cathythoughts Henning Mankell 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 4y
TrishB Raven Black is good 👍🏻 as usual Northern Lights (but not crime obviously!) 4y
LisaMorr Loved His Dark Materials, just finished the trilogy in December. 4y
Lucy_Anywhere Northern Lights - I just reread this and really enjoyed it 4y
TheAromaofBooks Never heard of The Wolf and the Watchman, but the cover is beautiful!! 4y
Prairiegirl_reading Ove is wonderful but definitely not crime so I‘d go with Raven Black. 4y
writerlibrarian I went through the Mankell's a few summers ago. My favorite of the 6 or 7 I read in order was (edited) 4y
ralexist The Wolf and the Watchman was really good. Dark and bleak but definitely good. 4y
94 likes1 stack add20 comments
blurb
StellaDz
post image

I‘ve ordered a lot of books lately from Indigo... so much so, that my mailman probably thinks I have stock in the company. This is my latest order! I want to drop everything and start these!! ❤️❤️

CoverToCoverGirl Great choices especially the BDB series! ❤️ 5y
StellaDz @CoverToCoverGirl I‘m so excited to pick it up! It‘s next up on the pile! 5y
7 likes2 comments
blurb
Hoopiefoot
post image

Thoroughly enjoying my current car read on this rainy Tuesday.

66 likes2 stack adds
blurb
DM_Johanna
post image

My familiar and me doing a bit of research.

blurb
HardcoverHearts
post image

Starting this for our work Women's Book Club! I'm glad we have a long period to read it because it's pretty dense. But so far it's a good read.

22 likes1 stack add
blurb
JulAnna
post image

Saturday morning--fresh homemade scones, hot coffee, and a book! ❤😊❤

Zelma Perfection! I ❤️ fresh scones! 😍 7y
23 likes1 comment
blurb
Godmotherx5
post image

Here is glimpse of my ambitious TBR. Thanks for doing this giveaway @Liberty #SaveTheFloorJoists

keithmalek In Harm's Way is very good. 7y
jpease89 The Martian was excellent! Very funny but also great suspense 7y
115 likes1 stack add2 comments