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Published Nov 2022
336 pages
Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
Publication Information
A gripping story of a family tragedy brought about by witch-hunting in Puritan New England that combines history, anthropology, sociology, politics, theology and psychology.
In Springfield, Massachusetts in 1651, peculiar things begin to happen. Precious food spoils, livestock ails, property vanishes, and people suffer convulsions as if possessed by demons. A woman is seen wading through the swamp like a lost soul. Disturbing dreams and visions proliferate. Children sicken and die. As tensions rise, rumours spread of witches and heretics and the community becomes tangled in a web of distrust, resentment and denunciation. The finger of suspicion soon falls on a young couple with two small children: the prickly brickmaker, Hugh Parsons, and his troubled wife, Mary.
Drawing on rich, previously unexplored source material, Malcolm Gaskill vividly evokes a strange past, one where lives were steeped in the divine and the diabolic, in omens, curses and enchantments. The Ruin of All Witches captures an entire society caught in agonized transition between superstition and enlightenment, tradition and innovation.
"Historian Gaskill combines first-rate historical research with a driving narrative in this captivating study of a married couple accused of witchcraft in 17th-century New England... Gaskill's vibrant portraits of Springfield community members...and lucid explanations of Puritan theology and Massachusetts's intertwined laws of church and state make for dense yet riveting reading. This portrait of early America fascinates." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A contextually rich history of the first witch panic during a tumultuous time in Massachusetts in 1651... Gaskill presents a meticulous, multilayered snapshot of this smoldering society, combining history, theology, and psychological speculation... An elucidating study on the forces that fed witchcraft hysteria in early America." - Kirkus Reviews
"This is an intriguing, vivid, and often frightening study of witch hunts, consequent trials, and the community's psychological state and how their suspicions led to destructive consequences." - Library Journal
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Malcolm Gaskill is emeritus professor of early modern history at the University of East Anglia. One of Britain's leading experts in the history of witchcraft, his works include the highly acclaimed Witchfinders: A Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy and Between Two Worlds: How the English Became Americans.
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