A Storm of Witchcraft

The Salem Trials and the American Experience

By: Emerson W. Baker

Narrated by: Marc Vietor

Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Beginning in January 1692, Salem Village in colonial Massachusetts witnessed the largest and most lethal outbreak of witchcraft in early America. Villagers - mainly young women - suffered from unseen torments that caused them to writhe, shriek, and contort their bodies, complaining of pins stuck into their flesh and of being haunted by specters. Believing that they suffered from assaults by an invisible spirit, the community began a hunt to track down those responsible for the demonic work. The resulting Salem Witch Trials, culminating in the execution of 19 villagers, persists as one of the most mysterious and fascinating events in American history.

Historians have speculated on a web of possible causes for the witchcraft that started in Salem and spread across the region - religious crisis, ergot poisoning, an encephalitis outbreak, frontier war hysteria - but most agree that there was no single factor. Rather, as Emerson Baker illustrates in this seminal new work, Salem was "a perfect storm": a unique convergence of conditions and events that produced something extraordinary throughout New England in 1692 and the following years, and which has haunted us ever since.

Baker shows how a range of factors in the Bay colony in the 1690s, including a new charter and government, a lethal frontier war, and religious and political conflicts, set the stage for the dramatic events in Salem. Engaging a range of perspectives, he looks at the key players in the outbreak - the accused witches and the people they allegedly bewitched, as well as the judges and government officials who prosecuted them - and wrestles with questions about why the Salem tragedy unfolded as it did, and why it has become an enduring legacy.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2015 Emerson W. Baker (P)2014 Audible Inc.

More than witch stories

Emerson Baker has given us a retelling not just of the Salem witch trials but an account of the political, economic and human climate at the time of the trials. His in-depth portrayal of the persons involved, their relationships before and long years after ties together The Who, what and why of the events surrounding 1692. You will learn more about surrounding towns, revenge, Indian wars and how religion played a large part in the events. Greed, jealousy and fear made fools of so many. It’s a fascinating recounting. Marc Vietor’s narration was superb.

Simply wonderful

Narrator perfectly handles this fresh take on some pretty exhausted territory. Plenty of things new to me and fresh coat of paint on the rest makes this a no-brainer.

Great narration. Great book!

This book never got overly “academic” and was easy to follow. I didn’t want to stop listening to it. The narrator was also fantastic - one of the best that I’ve heard on audible.

Great History Lesson

I found this book enjoyable for the history of the witch trials but also the education of the areas around Salem. This touches on not just religion but politics, prejudices and hysteria. I found that rolling all of that that into the telling of the witch trials gave me a clearer picture as to what really did happen beyond the idea of accusers, accused, trials and hangings. The usual textbook information as I will call it. I enjoyed having a much broader view of this time period. Highly recommended.

A comprehensive review of existing scholarship

As a witch trial buff, this book satisfied my desire to update my knowledge with some of the latest scholarship. While it is useful to have prior knowledge of the trials and the key people involved, it is not necessary in order to benefit from this book. Additional information about some of the historical backgrounds of the accused shed new light for me on the motivations of the accusers, as well as the religious turmoil New England was experiencing at that time. While the narrator is articulate and easy to understand, his mispronunciation of many Massachusetts and Maine towns did begin to grate on me. I somewhat feel that if you’re going to be tackling New England town names, you should at least research how they actually pronounced —Peabody, Billerica, Falmouth, Haverhill. Overall, a great survey of the scholarship.

More analysis than narrative

Really interesting discussion of the witch trials and how they impacted the residents of Salem and theor wider context.

Not a narrative of the witch trials themselves, so would consider this more of an advanced book for those interested in Salem.

Exhaustive, or Exhausting?

Tremendously interesting subject. Well written and well performed. Could’ve been about two hours shorter, because you can absolutely tell when the author ran out of things to say.

Great perspective!

Great perspective on the Salem Witchcraft trials. Difficult to follow if you are busy with other tasks while listening due to it jumping around. Overall I am pleased w/ the purchase of this book and what i was able to learn from Baker's take of the Witchcraft trials.

Exciting enough

Narrator gave good performance. Lacks drama and excitement. However, well researched. I enjoyed Audiobook but would not like to read the book.

Lessons for Response to Failure

Following my visit to Salem in December 2022, I sought to read a comprehensive book on the Salem Witch Trials from an expert on the topic. After consulting numerous bibliographies, abstracts, and reviews, I settled on "A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience." I have been very pleased with my choice.

"A Storm of Witchcraft" provides a very well-written, fact-filled coverage of the Salem Witch Trials from a professor of history at Salem State University. Emerson W. Baker traces the political, economic, legal, cultural, and religious factors leading to the Trials in 1692 followed by an analysis of their impact over the subsequent three centuries.

Emerson describes the government and church cover-up and the reverse impact that attempt had in the short-term and long-term. Government cover-up attempts, such as the Spanish Flu epidemic and Watergate in the United States, seem to recur frequently throughout history. The Salem Trials were certainly not the first cover-up, but they serve as another reminder that confessing the truth results in progress far greater than attempts to hide failures.

I highly recommend "A Storm of Witchcraft" as a first book for anyone desiring to better understand the complex and pivotal era of Colonial America and the impact of how we respond to failure.