Customer Reviews

Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692 (Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an original piece of scholarship that for the first time corrects numerous errors in both the popular and scholarly traditions about what went on in Salem in 1692. Rosenthal makes judgments while giving us enough of the historical record to allow us to assess the wisdom of these judgments. Future studies will have to take account of this compelling work.

--Norman T. Burns

I can't believe I more-or-less read this whole book in a single day. It's not, in the ordinary sense, a page-turner. You would expect an English prof to makes things more interesting than this, but in fact the book is often stilted, repetitive, and a bit pompous, not to mention dry. The author gives you little feel for place or time, or even demographic detail. (How many people lived in these towns he's talking about?) And all his references to the Bible seemed very ignorant. One of the odd things about the Salem trial to me, as a Christian, is that there are no strong parallels to these events in the Bible itself. Another interesting paradox, that the author does bring up, is that the pastors in Salem were mostly against the trials. I was hoping to learn fomr about where the Puritans got their ideas about the devil in the first place, and how they reconciled those ideas with the Bible, but no such information was forthcoming here.

Still, if you want to sort out facts in regard to what happened in Salem, and why, this is a very useful resource. The book is thoughtful, somewhat perceptive, and thoroughly researched. (In terms of American history.) In a book I wrote last year, Jesus and the Religions of Man, I included an appendix, "Crusades, Inquisitions, Pograms, and Witch Hunts," relying on another source for the pages on the Salem witch trials. I now discover, thanks to Professor Rosenthal, that I made a mistake or two (nothing vital) by not having read this book first. This is not such a bad book as some of the reviewers below make out; if you skip a bit, it can be valuable and somewhat interesting. But don't mistake it for a Stephen King novel.

Although I grew up less than an hour from Salem (and took the obligatory school trips there as a kid), I really knew very little about the witch trials until I stumbled upon Bernard Rosenthal's Salem Story. The author's extensive research and enjoyable narrative made for an excellent read. Simply put, I learned a lot and I'm glad I read the book.

I have to do a research paper for a college class I'm taking. I chose to do my paper on The Salem Witch Trials, and after buying this book, I must say that it has given me correct, and in-depth information that is far better than the information I could find online.

This is the book to read if you want the factually accurate truth about Salem.

(on a side note, it's can get to be a little slow in parts because every detail is explained, so if you want exciting stories about witches, you're better off with Harry Potter)

While taking his course at Binghamton and forced to read Salem Stroy, I found his words boring. While I must give him credit for doing a tiredless amount of research on the subject of the Salem Trials, I still found that he took an interesting subject that has been a memorable part of American history and made it unfascinating. I don't recommend this book to anyone who doesn't have to read it, but if ever, you must know the facts to a fictional marvel, read first 59 pages of this book.

I love to read a lot about Witchcraft and about Salem trials as well, however, this book isn't what I expected it to be..
It is VERY hard to read, boring, and disorganized.
There are a lot of great books about the Salem trials, I recommend you to skip this one..

All I have to say is that this book is VERY hard to stay interested in. I have always found any/all information on the Salem Witch Trails to fascinating...until now! This book is very factual, but seems that it is very repetitious. I think a book CAN be factual and keep ones attention (which is why I purchased the book) but unfortunately, I found this book completely boring.

I found this boof to be very well written and to the the point. I was very into it the intire time i was reading which is abnomal for me. Sorry this is all new for me. This is my first time for this.

All I have to say is that this book is VERY hard to stay interested in. I have always found any/all information on the Salem Witch Trails too fascinating...until now! This book is very factual, but seems that it is very repetitious. I think a book CAN be factual and keep ones attention (which is why I purchased the book) but unfortunately, I found this book completely boring. It seems that I am not the only one that thinks this way from other reviews.

It has been hard to believe, as I worked through this book, that someone could have, without intent, reduced this information to a scattered, boring list of who then accused whom in stilted language with virtually no sense of drama and very little helpful side information. Perhaps it was not to be bought by laypeople.