Rating: 
Summary: Makes It Real
Review: This always seems to be one of those historical events that gets mentioned, but very briefly, in history textbooks. Frances Hill really brought it to life for me. She brought in details about the people involved that really struck emotional chords with me. I liked her use of many primary sources, and her epilogue nicely tied it together without becoming preachy. I wish she would have explained how the psychological phenomenom of hysteria works a little more thoroughly, so I guess I will just have to do some additional reading of my own. Hill also explains the background--psychological, cultural, religious, even geographical--very well to help explain why the people acted the ways they did. Overall, an excellent book that not only informed me about the event, but helped me connect on an emotional level to the people.
Rating: 
Summary: Informative, but painfully boring.
Review: This book would be ideal if for one reason or another you have to write a thesis on the witch trials. Hill describes most events as to the point where the reader no longer thinks of her as a succesful novelist, but rather a college professor who attempts to drill facts and ideas into your head in an insanely boring and tedious fashion. All too often, Hill's chapters open with a paragraph or two of what transpired in Salem, and then proceed to ramble on about what Freud would have thought of the girls antics, or what a modern psycho therapist would have offered as a diagnosis to their behaviors. If you want facts, philosophies, and more facts, and believe that perhaps one day you will be forced to take a comprehensive test on the Salem witch trials, then buy this book. However, if you have become interested in the witch trials because of intrigue, enigma, and lore, then this book will do nothing to further your enchantment or fascination.
Rating:
Summary: insightful, gripping history
Review: This is one of the most insightful and gripping histories of the American experience. It is terribly moving as the horror of the witch trials unfolds. Ms. Hill offers a multi-leveled view of the social, religious and psychological pressures that resulted in one of the most wrenching injustices in the annals of law. This surely must and will be the definitive book on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: The definitive book about the Salem Witch Trials!
Review: Throughout history man has been plagued by one common trait, fear. Fear is the core of the Salem Witch Trial and this book is a true masterpiece in documenting that fact.From my days is history class I was taught about the Salem Witch Trials, but what high school history failed to cover this book made up for. I was impressed by the author's meticulous attention to detail. You'll read about how a small community in Salem Massachusetts, in 1691 was transformed from a conservative and rigid Puritanical society into mass hysteria by the ranting of a group of young girls. Read the horrifying details of how these girls charged a black slave that turn the lives of 19 men and women in mass murder by hanging. I am truly thankful to have the opportunity to review this book!
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