The Ruin of All Witches - Life and Death in the New World (Paperback)

*THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER* *SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE* *A TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES AND BBC HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR* 'A bona fide historical classic' Sunday Times 'Simply one of the best history books I have ever read' BBC History In the frontier town of Springfield in 1651, peculiar things begin to happen. Precious food spoils, livestock ails and property vanishes. People suffer fits and are plagued by strange visions and dreams. Children sicken and die. As tensions rise, rumours spread of witches and heretics, and the community becomes tangled in a web of spite, distrust and denunciation. The finger of suspicion falls on a young couple struggling to make a home and feed their children: Hugh Parsons the irascible brickmaker and his troubled wife, Mary. It will be their downfall. The Ruin of All Witches tells the dark, real-life folktale of witch-hunting in a remote Massachusetts plantation. These were the turbulent beginnings of colonial America, when English settlers' dreams of love and liberty, of founding a 'city on a hill', gave way to paranoia and terror, enmity and rage. Drawing on uniquely rich, previously neglected source material, Malcolm Gaskill brings to life a New World existence steeped in the divine and the diabolic, in curses and enchantments, and precariously balanced between life and death. Through the gripping micro-history of a family tragedy, we glimpse an entire society caught in agonized transition between supernatural obsessions and the age of enlightenment. We see, in short, the birth of the modern world. 'Gaskill tells this deeply tragic story with immense empathy and compassion, as well as historical depth' The Guardian 'As compelling as a campfire story ... Gaskill brings this sinister past vividly to life' Erica Wagner, Financial Times

General

Imprint:	Penguin Books
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	October 2022
Authors:	Malcolm Gaskill
Dimensions:	198 x 129 x 19mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	336
ISBN-13:	978-0-14-199148-1
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > World history > 1500 to 1750 Books > Humanities > History > American history > General Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > General > Religious intolerance, persecution & conflict > General Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Alternative belief systems > Occult studies > Witchcraft Books > History > American history > General Books > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history Books > History > World history > 1500 to 1750 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Alternative belief systems > Occult studies > Witchcraft Books > Religion & Spirituality > General > Religious intolerance, persecution & conflict > General
LSN:	0-14-199148-8
Barcode:	9780141991481

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