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Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft Paperback – Illustrated, February 1, 1974

by Paul Boyer (Author), Stephen Nissenbaum (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 194 ratings
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Tormented girls writhing in agony, stern judges meting out harsh verdicts, nineteen bodies swinging on Gallows Hill.

The stark immediacy of what happened in 1692 has obscured the complex web of human passion, individual and organized, which had been growing for more than a generation before the witch trials. Salem Possessed explores the lives of the men and women who helped spin that web and who in the end found themselves entangled in it.

From rich and varied sources―many previously neglected or unknown―Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum give us a picture of the events of 1692 more intricate and more fascinating than any other in the already massive literature on Salem. “Salem Possessed,” wrote Robin Briggs in The Times Literary Supplement, “reinterprets a world-famous episode so completely and convincingly that virtually all the previous treatments can be consigned to the historical lumber-room.”

Not simply a dramatic and isolated event, the Salem outbreak has wider implications for our understanding of developments central to the American experience: the breakup of Puritanism, the pressures of land and population in New England towns, the problems besetting farmer and householder, the shifting role of the church, and the powerful impact of commercial capitalism.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    231 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harvard University Press
  4. Publication date
    February 1, 1974
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.7 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9780674785267
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0674785267
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“An illuminating and imaginative interpretation…of the social and moral state of Salem village in 1692. Provides an admirable illustration of the general rule that, in Old and New England alike, much of the best sociological history of the twentieth century has only been made possible by the antiquarian and genealogical interests of the nineteenth… This sensitive, intelligent, and well-written book will certainly revive interest in the terrible happenings at Salem.”―Keith Thomas, New York Review of Books

“A provocative book. Drawing upon an impressive range of unpublished local sources, Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum provide a challenging new interpretation of the outbreak of witchcraft in Salem Village. They argue that previous historians erroneously divorced the tragic events of 1692 from the long-term development of the village and therefore failed to realize that the witch trials were simply one particularly violent chapter in a series of local controversies dating back to the 1660s. In their reconstruction of the socio-economic conditions that contributed to the intense factionalism in Salem Village, Boyer and Nissenbaum have made a major contribution to the social history of colonial New England… [They] have provided us with a first-rate discussion of factionalism in a seventeenth-century New England community. Their handling of economic, familial, and spatial relationships within Salem Village is both sophisticated and imaginative.”―T. H. Breen, William and Mary Quarterly

“This is an ‘inner history’ of Salem Village that aims to raise the events of 1692 from melodrama to tragedy… It is a large achievement. This book is progressive history at its best, with brilliant insights, well-organized evidence, maps, and footnotes at the bottom of the page.”―Cedric B. Cowing, American Historical Review

“The authors’ whole approach to the Salem disaster is canny, rewarding, and sure to fascinate readers interested in that aberrant affair.”―The Atlantic

“This short book is a solid contribution to the understanding of the 1692 witch trials. The authors use impressively rich demographic detail to support the thesis that the witch trials are best explained as symptoms of typical social tensions in provincial towns at the time. According to Boyer and Nissenbaum, Salem villagers played roles determined by economic, geographic, and status interests.”―Richard Ekman, Canadian Historical Review

“An important, imaginative book that brings new insights to the study of the 1692 witchcraft outbreak in Massachusetts. Building on Charles Upham’s Salem Witchcraft (1867), Boyer and Nissenbaum explore decades of community tension and conflict in order to explain why Salem was the focus of this episode. The authors reveal a complex set of relationships between persons allied with the growing mercantile interests of Salem Town and those linked to the subsistence-based economy of outlying Salem Village.”―Carol Karlsen, Journal of Women in Culture and Society

About the Author

Paul Boyer was Merle Curti Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Stephen Nissenbaum is a cultural historian.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0674785266
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard University Press; First Edition (February 1, 1974)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 231 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780674785267
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674785267
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 194 ratings

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  1. Paul S. Boyer

    Paul S. Boyer

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    Stephen Nissenbaum

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
194 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book adding to witch history knowledge
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2023
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This book is well written by two professors and offers an interesting perspective on events and society leading up to the events in Salem, highly recommend!
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Deb P
5.0 out of 5 stars a nuanced and detailed account of the witchcraft trials
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2021
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The book is totally absorbing, a well-written account of a polarized period in history. It's too easy to dismiss such times as crazy aberrations, but seeing all the factors that influence people's behavior allows us to learn from the past. I read this to understand some family genealogy, and it filled the bill. However, the story is worth reading for anyone interested in history, New England, how distrust grows and how healing takes place. Excellent!
2 people found this helpful
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Pringfall
5.0 out of 5 stars As someone whose family history traces back to Salem Village ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2015
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As someone whose family history traces back to Salem Village and Bray Wilkins, I genuinely appreciate the effort it took to dig into the excruciating details of this disturbing period in history. Your book included such a detailed account that it brought the people involved "to life" in a way and made me feel as though I just might be able to understand what would go down in history as one of the most appalling social condemnations of our fellow men of all time.
6 people found this helpful
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B. Marold
4.0 out of 5 stars Important Theory, More Important Data
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2012
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One of the great things about not being the first reviewer of a book, is that you can feel free to limit yourself to a discussion of what you felt was important about the book to your own point of view, since most of the other reviewers will have covered some of the more general issues about the book.

Like the lead reviewer, I do not buy into the authors' sociological conclusions regarding the origins of the Salem Witch trials. But that does not mean this is not a very valuable book for those who study this subject. Since it does end with a socio-economic explanation of events, it marshalls and displays an impressive amount of evidence regarding the state of Salem Village at the time of the outbreak. You are unlikely to find this information elsewhere, and it is just as likely to support an alternative explanation as the one to which the authors lead you.

For example, early in the book, the authors make the connection between the events in Salem and the events, 42 years later, a few dozen miles to the west, in Northampton, Massachusetts, during what was called the First or "Little" Great Awakening in the parish of Jonathan Edwards. This was the source for my alternate theory of the events in Salem. This means that one should read this book with an open heart, get what ideas are good, and criticize the ideas which may be too much of a stretch.

If the authors attend too much to any one point, it seems to be the motives of certain individuals. My reading of the events is that it was an incident fuelled not by the evil or ignorance of one person, like Thomas de' Torquemada's role in the Spanish Inquisition, but in the sense of the times, fed by the way in which the incident was sparked by the Amerindian slave Tituba and her vision of many witches signing the Devil's book.
5 people found this helpful
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John
5.0 out of 5 stars Beginners Guide to Salem
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2018
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If you intend to study the Salem incident in any serious amounts this should be your starting point. It gives an excellent amount of insight and information. Among colonial american historians, this is a staple.
One person found this helpful
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P. J. Moran
5.0 out of 5 stars Salem Town and Salem Village
Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2020
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This nonfiction book filled in a whole chapter in my family history. Nicely well written.
2 people found this helpful
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Bee Boi
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2014
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Boring read
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Spencer R
5.0 out of 5 stars Great scholarly work.
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2015
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Great book. This book takes a look at the economics and social pressures that plagued Salem during the late 17th century. The book does not go into depth with the trials themselves, merely the tensions that brought them on.
10 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Miss Deborah Gallagher
3.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but badly stained cover
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2021
Verified Purchase
The book is very interesting, but the cover seems to be badly stained with something that doesn't rub off. It's really ugly and dirty looking, outrageous for something that is apparently new (!) and costs about £20. Won't be buying from this vendor again.
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Miss Deborah Gallagher
3.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but badly stained cover
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2021
The book is very interesting, but the cover seems to be badly stained with something that doesn't rub off. It's really ugly and dirty looking, outrageous for something that is apparently new (!) and costs about £20. Won't be buying from this vendor again.
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One person found this helpful
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Wyrd One
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 11, 2017
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A well structured and researched insight into the social environment of the colony in the seventeenth century.
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