Rating: 
Summary: A Fantastic Study of the Salem Crisis.
Review: Many authors have studied the Witch Trials that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692, but none has analyzed contemporary events that shaped the lives of the trials' participants seeking to explain how such hysteria could have gripped the population. 'In The Devil's Snare; The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692' does just that, and is a fantastically detailed account of the Trials and events surrounding them.
Mary Beth Norton, who holds the position of Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History at Cornell and is one of America's most respected historians, has here presented the most complete analysis of the Trials to date. Norton's highly detailed account relies on exhaustive research of surviving texts, both public and private, relating not only to the trials' proceedings but also historical information regarding life in the Bay Colony and on the frontier. She chronicles the wars between the colonists and the Wabanaki Indians, showing how the many battles and massacres preyed upon the minds of the colonists, causing them to be suspicious and fearful, and demonstrating many cross references between events in the Trials and the Indian war. Norton also delves into the social status of women and men at the time of the Trials, illustrating how the Trials gave a group of young women power and prestige in their male-dominated society. Professor Norton completes the book with an impressive series of appendices, including lists of Cases Heard by the Court of Oyer and Terminer, Participants in the Crisis with Ties to the Frontier, etc., etc.
'In the Devil's Snare' should appeal to any with an interest in history in general and especially to those interested in early Colonial history, and is the most complete treatment available of the Salem Witch Trials.
Rating: 
Summary: dreadful turgid tome
Review: Don't bother. She can't write and her thesis deserves a short article, not an extremely long book.
Rating:
Summary: best one-volume history of the Salem witch trials of 1692
Review: Every historian dealing with the Salem witchcraft episode has attempted to explain "why Salem?" in terms of their own times. Reasons why have ranged from sheer fakery to mass hysteria to land greed or medical causes. Noted historian Mary Beth Norton has throughly combed through the surviving original records to arrive at a new and convincing explanation of the infamous 1692 witch crisis: the very real fear of Indian attacks on settlements in Massachusetts and Maine. Norton explores the news and letters of the times before and during 1692 to discover that Essex County MA residents were primarily concerned with the hit and run attacks on homes and settlements by Native Americans(some with French support). She bases her thesis on what she has found in original documents, rather than use the records to support her thesis. Puritans and others had very real reasons to be obsessed with the Devil in Massachusetts as they considered Native Americans Satan's agents.... Norton's narrative is most absorbing in relating the cause and effect of Native American attacks on colonial settlements. Two factors in Norton's work are most striking: 1)Just about everyone involved in the Salem witch episode had or knew of someone who had suffered losses in the eras now called King Philip's and King William's Wars, and 2)Nearly everyone involved was related to everyone else in some degree. Norton rights many historical fallicies concerning the Salem witch episode(which she accurately terms Essex County witchcraft), focusing on the Andover area which had the highest concentration of witchcraft accusations and confessions, as well as Salem Town and Salem Village. Norton brings to light some "lost" information on accusers and accused as well, however noting that many documents may be forever lost due to deliberate destruction by either the originators and/or decendents of both accused and accusers, all wanting to preserve their families good names. This fascinating and informationally dense book kept me up late two nights running to finish it. Norton also provides nearly 100 pages of notes and source materials, mostly of interest to serious amateur and professional historians, but full of interesting facts and further explanations. The only real flaw in this best book I've encountered of the 1692 Witch Crisis(and I've read all of them, I believe) is that Norton uses the "they must have thought such and such" language of many of today's historians, rather than write "may" or "might", instead of "must"or "should". Norton does back up these "must" conclusions with evidence, however the reader may silently disagree upon rare occasion. Altogether, this is a must-have book for those interested in "Salem 1692."
Rating:
Summary: What makes good history?
Review: Good history is made when the author tries to put the events that are being written about in the context of their times. To attempt to figure out, or judge, actions or motives of people in the past using modern day criteria, makes for lousy history. This book does not do that. This book understands the fears, hopes, morals, world viewpoint, etc, etc, of the people of New England in 1692. It helps to explain how such horrors were allowed to occur. It takes a real-life view of these events and potential causes, and makes it utterly believable, and in doing so, makes them fascinating. If you are drawn to this dark period in North American history, I can think of no better book to take you through it.
Rating: 
Summary: well researched and fascinating, but slow going
Review: I agree with other reviewers who said this was not an easy read. The book is heavily footnoted and filled with quotes rendered in late-17th century English. And, of course, the subject matter is disturbing and unsettling. Nevertheless, I'm glad I read it. This book focuses on the infamous Salem witch trials...one of the more unfortunate periods of early American history. But unlike other books on the subject, it focuses on a previously overlooked aspect of the trials--how the ongoing French and native american raids against English settlers likely influenced both the accusers and accused. The fact is, many of the individuals involved in the trials had either experienced loss of property or family members during a raid, or had in some way profited (or been suspected of profiting) through dealings with native americans. The psychological toll of these skirmishes must have been heavy...and given the difficulties that some of the young accusers experienced (one girl lost over a dozen family members in a single raid) it's no wonder that they may have started taking their anger out against potentially guilty citizens in the only way left open to them. This is a well-researched book filled with a lot of details about the period. And whether you agree or disagree with the author's conclusion, she does raise some points that are difficult to ignore.
Rating:
Summary: THE definitve work on the Salem witch crisis.
Review: It is hard to imagine that Prof. Norton's narrative and analysis of the Salem witch crisis will be surpassed anytime soon. This book re-examines an episode in American colonial history that many other historians have tried to tackle. What makes Norton's book special is the care with which she has combed through the primary sources and the skill with which she sifts the data in arriving at what is, for my money, the best explanation of the Massachusetts tragedy. As Norton points out, the Salem witchcraft episode involved many more people, and was much more intense, than any other such episode in America or England. Her central explanation for Salem's "uniqueness" is that, in Massachusetts in 1692, there was a fatal concurrence of New Englanders' belief in witchery and the supernatural, renewed war against northern New England settlements by the French and the Wabanaki Indians, and a series of military disasters for Massachusetts (including the wiping out of several villages). Although, as Norton readily acknowledges, this theory was advanced by other historians in scholarly articles in the 1980s, no one had previously attempted to flesh out the theory fully and examine the entire, sad series of events in light of it. Not only does Norton do a fantastic job as a scholar, but she also is (contrary to what some Amazon reviewers have said) quite a good writer. I only wish all scholarly works were written with Norton's careful craftsmanship and scorn for pseudo-intellectual gobbledygook. The book also includes excellent and helpful maps, appendixes, and index. It should be noted as well that Norton is amazingly generous in her acknowledgements (in her notes and elsewhere) to all the researchers and even graduate students who gave her ideas and data. She sets a fine example for other historians. I wouldn't think that this book would be beyond the capacity of anyone with a college education. Some of the other reviews, unfortunately, show that my estimate of the reading public may be too high. I suppose that, if you just want to be titillated and not have to think too hard, there are other books you should buy. But, if you really want to understand an important and notorious series of events in American history, then this is the book to read.
Rating: 
Summary: In The Devil's Snare
Review: Make sure you have plenty of water or other beverage at your side when you read this book. It's so dry, you will find yourself thirsty for a better writing style. I read lots of books and I was very eager to read this one; having read the prior reviews, I thought it would be an interesting historical account of the events of that era and topic. I got 70 pages in to the book and finally gave up. I don't know why but the presentation was boring. I found the author's style too clinical and choppy, somehow. If you are determined to read this book, wait 'till it comes out in paperback or buy it used. Don't make the same mistake I did and buy it in HB.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Blending of Frontier and Witchcraft History
Review: Mary Beth Norton has managed to take an oft-examined event, the Salem Witchraft Crisis of 1692, and added a fresh perspective to it. In the Devil's Snare is a fascinating book. It is not as thrilling and easy to read as some other histories of the event (such as the re-released Francis Hill book) but looking at the conflict on the frontiers of the territories with the Indians and its impact on pushing the witchcraft crisis to greater heights will interest those who have read other accounts. The fit is not always perfect but it does give one much to consider. The book is well researched and of particular interest will be the gossip networks unearthed by the author showing how information was spread from distant counties. It's a small New England world after all. A fresh look at a horrific event and strongly recommended for anyone wishing to understand this event.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful
Review: Mary Beth Norton's scholarly works are always a wonderful source of historical information. For those who are interested in how really different the times were and how people thought and
lived, this book is for you. You might say this book is a mixture of historical information (and interpretation) and social anthropology. Or, you might not say that - but, in my opinion, it will appeal to you if you like getting down to the nitty gritty of an historical period and finding information that will help you understand why people believed what they did in that period. However, the book looks more at the society as a whole and the individual's place within it, than the individual's psyche or inner life.
For those who are looking for just a good read about "witches" or horrific details, there
are other books that will serve you better. I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: dreadful turgid tome
Review: Norton's book is not pleasurable reading, in the sense that it's difficult to get through. There are so many names and so many references, you just can't get a smooth read going. However, it's so much better than the typical colonial american history book, it's worth the trouble. The witchraft hysteria has never been adequately explained, until now. Norton traces the accused and accusers to coastal Maine, where attacks by both French and native americans took a heavy toll in the 1670s and '80s, causing severe emotional trauma and generating gossip. Most coastal Maine families moved to northeast Massachusetts, to towns like Salem, Andover, Boxford, Haverhill, etc. and the accusers tended to come from them. It's the only explanation that makes any sense. Previous attempts to portray the hysteria as resulting from economic divisions were never able to make sense of the judges sending twenty innocent people to their deaths with only the vaguest of evidence.
|
