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The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem (Paperback)

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Key item features

Authoritative Account: Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning and #1 bestselling author Stacy Schiff.
Historical Focus: Unpacks the mystery of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, a pivotal moment in American history.
Dramatic Narrative: Details the events from a minister's daughter's convulsions to the hanging of 19 individuals and one man crushed to death.
Societal Impact: Explores how the panic involved prominent figures and led to neighbors accusing each other, with women playing a central role.
Cultural Inspiration: The historical account served as inspiration for Broadway's "John Proctor is the Villain" starring Sadie Sink.
Book Format: Presented in a paperback format with ISBN 9780316200592, published on September 20, 2016.

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Specs

Book format
Paperback
Fiction/nonfiction
Non-Fiction
Genre
Biography & Memoirs
Publication date
September, 2016
Pages
512
Reading level
General

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From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and #1 bestselling author of Cleopatra comes a rich historical account unpacking the mystery of the Salem Witch Trials and the inspiration for Broadway's John Proctor is the Villain starring Sadie Sink. It began in 1692, over an exceptionally raw Massachusetts winter, when a minister's daughter began to scream and convulse. It ended less than a year later, but not before 19 men and women had been hanged and an elderly man crushed to death. The panic spread quickly, involving the most educated men and prominent politicians in the colony. Neighbors accused neighbors, parents and children each other. Aside from suffrage, the Salem Witch Trials represent the only moment when women played the central role in American history. In curious ways, the trials would shape the future republic. As psychologically thrilling as it is historically seminal, The Witches is Stacy Schiff's account of this fantastical story -- the first great American mystery unveiled fully for the first time by one of our most acclaimed historians.

Publishers Weekly,Pulitzer-winner Schiff (Cleopatra: A Life) applies her descriptive prowess and flair for the dramatic to the Salem witch trials. The book is packed with details and delivered with a punch, but it suffers from a dearth of nuance. Schiff's passionate use of the active tense places the reader right in the midst of the action, about 15 miles north of Boston during the spring of 1692. However, this laudable effort also causes some confusion over place and time, and it's hard to distinguish the facts from Schiff's imaginative attempts at turning the trial reports into narrative action. There are disorienting shifts between passages in which the reader is immersed in the spooky, supposedly magical environment of Salem, and more prosaic sections describing what actually happened in the trials and town. Schiff provides background context for the events and focuses on the action, but her efforts to apply an overarching fairy tale theme miss their mark, and she avoids deep cultural, historical, and societal analyses of the trials. This retelling succeeds as a work of gripping popular nonfiction, but for those already familiar with the subject, it will serve only as light reading. Agent: Eric Simonoff, William Morris Endeavor. (Nov.) �� Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Specifications

Book format

Paperback

Fiction/nonfiction

Non-Fiction

Genre

Biography & Memoirs

Publication date

September, 2016

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