A review by mezzosherri
In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 by Mary Beth Norton

4.0

An impeccably-researched and well-argued analysis of the Salem Witch Trials--or, more accurately, the witch hysteria and crisis that spread across Essex County MA during 1692. Norton persuasively places the witchcraft crisis in its socio-historical context: specifically, conflicts with French colonists and the Abenaki Tribe over territories and fur trade in Maine. I find Norton's thesis and analysis to be quite sound and extensively supported by detail. A such, I highly recommend the book with one caveat: it is a dense, almost academic, tome, and therefore may not be to everyone's taste.