An interesting and fun read on this seminal event in American history. Norton does a phenomenal job challenging many of the popularized caricatures of the Salem Witch Trials including feminist and rationalist interpretations. Far form being a coordinated attack on powerless women by powerful men, Norton shows that the Salem Witch "crisis" was far more women-led than we've been told. Women and their testimonies were overwhelmingly believed in the courtroom, not dismissed. Even men were counted among the victims by controversy's end!

I think Norton presents sufficient evidence to categorize the crisis as a product of Indian Wars more than anything else. The vast amount of overlap between victims of the paranormal activity and Indian brutality is hard to ignore. That the colonists in Essex county saw them as one and the same is also evident. ( )

A fantastic book! Norton locates the Salem witch trials in their North American context, noting the impact of King Philip's war and King William's war on the psyche of the people, particularly on the Maine frontier. Her work is well researched and provides a fascinating perspective. ( )

2.5 stars

In addition to looking at the accusations and trials of the “witches” in the Salem, Mass. area in the late 17th century, this author looks at other things happening in the area at the time to see if there is a connection. Specifically, the First and Second Indian Wars happened in the years leading up to the witch accusations and trials.

I do find the Salem witches an interesting topic, but a number of nonfiction books I’ve read about it (including this one) have not held my interest. I do find it hard, sometimes, to read books with a lot of quotations from other sources, and this one (and other books on this topic) has a lot of that. ( )

Scholarly, thoughtful analysis reveals a larger pattern of who fell victim to the Salem Witch Hunt. ( )

In In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, Mary Beth Norton argues, “The witchcraft crisis of 1692 can be comprehended only in the context of nearly two decades of armed conflict between English settlers and the New England Indians in both southern and northern portions of the region” (pg. 12). She further writes, “As in no other event in American history until the rise of the women’s rights movement in the nineteenth century, women took center stage at Salem: they were the major instigators and victims of a remarkable public spectacle” (pg. 4). Returning to her argument, Norton writes, “The histories of King William’s War, King Philip’s War (its equally brutal predecessor in the 1670s), and the Salem witchcraft crisis are intricately intertwined. In the Devil’s Snare explicates those links through what has evolved into a dual narrative of war and witchcraft” (pg. 5). Discussing the interconnectedness of Massachusetts and Maine farmers, Norton writes, “Gossip thus serves as a leitmotif” (pg. 6). Responding to the historiography’s attempt to discuss the differences between Salem and other witchcraft crises, Norton writes, “To explain these anomalies it is necessary to abandon the intense focus on Salem Village common to most studies and to place the witchcraft crisis in the broader context of Essex County and northern New England” (pg. 11). Further, “The consequences were all the more devastating because they happened twice in quick succession: war broke out again just as refugees who had originally fled Maine in 1676 had successfully reestablished themselves and were once more expanding their settlements” (pg. 11). ( )