The Witches: Salem, 1692

Fascinating to read, but I wish the author didn't inject present day popular culture into the story in an effort to make it more understandable to 21st century readers. Some of the best parts of the book were places where Schiff took the time to explain enough about Puritan theology and beliefs about community, for example, that you could understand why they felt it was important to keep an eye on each other and report each others' wrongdoings. Putting comparisons to Harry Potter into the story is at odds with that kind of understanding.

Schiff doesn't argue for any particular theory of why the witchcraft crisis occurred, but she does describe the context, from the precarious political position the Massachusetts Bay Colony was in in its relationship with England, to the ever present threat of attacks by Native Americans. I hadn't known that Salem village was already a contentious, litigious place long before 1692–property disputes, ministers who hadn't been paid for months and whose congregations broke into factions for and against them, livestock that disappeared and ended up in someone else's barn.

I learned a lot from reading this book, but I can't help but wonder if someone else has done a better job of writing the history of the Salem witchcraft trials.