The Salem Witch Trials

by Sandy Asirvatham

Discusses the Salem witch trials, including their Puritan background, the accusations made, and the outcome of the social hysteria that produced the situation.

Genres: Nonfiction

Library Binding

First published November 1, 2001

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book by Sandy Asirvatham is a very good book. It talks about the trials held in 1692 in the colonial Massachusetts village of Salem. Multiple people claimed to be cursed by witches and would slip into trances, scream, and babble incoherently. Since there was no medical explanation, the Puritan community turned a supernatural one and that was witches. During this time people were “put on trial” to test to see if they were actually witches. The result was 20 people being executed and 4 dying in prison. This book talks about everything from the accused to the evidence to the believers and skeptics and explanations. It was a very interesting read and although it does get a bit disturbing, I think that learning about these kinds of things are important in learning about the early colonial days of America. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the supernatural and even to anyone who is a skeptic.