Aronson,Marc. Witch-hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials. NewYork: Simon And Schuster, 2003

In reviewing the obligate beldam-hunt Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials, I found many novel and interesting facts ab unwrap the Salem fascinate trials. The book gives a detailed delineate of the accusers, the accused, the judges, and other key players involved in the rage that consumed Salem in 1692. Aronson starts out his book not with 1692, but sort of with 1688, a year when the four Goodwin children seemed to be possessed by some atomic number 53 or something that was not of this world. The whole of this story is told by Cotton Mather, a well-respected minister of his mean solar day.He and his father, Increase Mather would play an important conk out in the hysteria was to come. He was the unitary who established the test for accused witchesthat is, the index to recite the Lords appeal perfectly. Ironically, it would be his voice that would stop the hysteria in late 1692. He thusly compares the hysteria of 1692 to the post-September 11, 2001 hysteria regarding religi ous fundamentalists. At times, Aronson is a bit preachy, but the narrative moves along, telling undimmedly of the trials of the accused, and how many re offerted their confessions, and heretofore the histrionics of the alleged victims.The story begins with a group of girls practicing some old forecasting with a West Indian Slave, Tituba. When the prove goes horribly wrong, the girls begin having spells of illness, and began going into fits. The girls involveily accuse Tituba of bewitching them, and Tituba does not disappoint, confessing to the horror of witchcraft, naming names, if only to save herself. The accusations go quickly from there, as does the narrative. Aronson moves quickly, telling of the trials and hangings with vivid clarity.One almost feels as though they are in the courtroom, feeling the accusers pains, and listening the plaintiffs cries of innocence. Aronson overly takes us to the jail cells, telling us of witches that recanted to the stenographers char ged with winning their confessions. Aronson then talks of the visor of the hysteria, when batch were being accused at an alarming rate. He does, however, neglect to character that a total of 20 people were executed, and many more were imprisoned. Aronson ends the Witchcraft trials with a voice of fountain.It is the same voice that finish the hysteria 300 years ago. The reason is voiced by people same Cotton Mather, Increase Mather, Thomas gabble and other esteemed men of the society. He also ties the whole thing together by placing the events in their historical mise en scene and giving reasons for the hysteria and for the end of the sovereignty of terror. Overall, he does an excellent job of taking the available resources and turning it into a prehend tale that would take anyone on a wild ride. I personally read this book in two days, I could not put it down.The contemporary comparisons Aronson makes brings the book to relevance to todays schoolgirlish person while brin ging this engrossing historical period to a satisfying, if unsettling conclusion. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a split up understanding of the Salem Witch Trials and their sham on Massachusetts society. I would also recommend it because after reading it, one gets the sense of what a modern day witch-hunt looks like. Hopefully, by reading about this disturb period in American history, we can avoid repetitions of this type of hysteria in the future.