excellent account of witch trials
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This book is the best overall account of the Salem witch trials. It is accurate, clear, takes account of all the factors involved (such as the Indian Wars, disccused at tedious, forced length elsewhere) and is extremely readable. The poor reader reviews on this website seem to have been written by people with a hostile agenda. A far better selection of reviews - and a four star rating - can be found at amazon.com.
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Boring - and Bad!
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I'm amazed this is still in print - or that anyone would buy it. It's a pseudo-psychological attempt to investigate the Salem happenings and it is, without doubt, the worst of all the books I have on this subject. Spend your money elsewhere - Boyer and Nissenbaum are amongst the best authors even if their books are now a bit long in the tooth
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Look elsewhere for history of Salem witch trials.
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Frances Hill presents a mildly entertaining but historically deficient analysis of the Salem witch scare of 1692. Focusing primarily on factional and familial conflict as the cause of the devastating craze, Hill neglects to give adequate attention to other, more plausible, explanations.
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Look elsewhere for history of Salem witch trials.
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Frances Hill presents a mildly entertaining but historically deficient analysis of the Salem witch scare of 1692. Focusing primarily on factional and familial conflict as the cause of the devastating craze, Hill neglects to give adequate attention to other, more plausible explanations.
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Informative, but painfully boring.
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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.
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