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The Salem Witchcraft Trials: A Legal History. By Peter Charles Hoffer. (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1997. xii, 165 pp. Cloth, $25.00, ISBN 0-7006-0858-3. Paper, $10.95, ISBN 07006-0859-1.)
The Salem Witchcraft Trials is an abbreviated, altered version of Peter Charles Hoffer's 1996 book, The Devil's Disciples: Makers of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, based on the same evidence. The shorter narrative account of the events at Salem contains no footnotes and is designed for classroom use. Hoffer suggests that readers think of the Salem episode as a dramatic performance, and he introduces students to the plot and cast of characters, along with several provocative explanations for why things happened as they did.
Elevating human agency over cultural exigencies, Hoffer singles out various actors, examining their actions and motivations during the witchcraft drama. He takes...