heepy_slollow reviewed The Ruin of All Witches by Malcolm Gaskill
Early modern witch trial journalism
4 stars
A highly detailed account of the background, proceedings, and aftermath of the witch trial of husband and wife Hugh and Mary Parsons in Springfield, MA in 1651. Gaskill apparently had access to a ton of diaries because he has a lot of info on private conversations and thoughts, but he's honest when he doesn't have info on any point. He also has the governor's ledger of township transactions, which allows him to trace the monetary entanglements of the participants. The atmosphere is impeccable, communicating a sense of isolation and dread. Gaskill also does a great job of briefly spelling out various Christian heresies and arguments of the time without getting too far into the weeds. The blame for the affair is placed squarely on Puritan psychology - Calvinist chauvinism, fear of the world as full of soul-damning wickedness, and a contrasting focus on worldly wealth as a proof of one's …
A highly detailed account of the background, proceedings, and aftermath of the witch trial of husband and wife Hugh and Mary Parsons in Springfield, MA in 1651. Gaskill apparently had access to a ton of diaries because he has a lot of info on private conversations and thoughts, but he's honest when he doesn't have info on any point. He also has the governor's ledger of township transactions, which allows him to trace the monetary entanglements of the participants. The atmosphere is impeccable, communicating a sense of isolation and dread. Gaskill also does a great job of briefly spelling out various Christian heresies and arguments of the time without getting too far into the weeds. The blame for the affair is placed squarely on Puritan psychology - Calvinist chauvinism, fear of the world as full of soul-damning wickedness, and a contrasting focus on worldly wealth as a proof of one's fitness to serve God combine in the accusers to drive out those seen as different or unworthy and hopefully absorb their property. After tracing the main narrative, Gaskill describes his walks through the modern city looking for the old places within the new ones, and reminding us how the past impacts the present and the future. As with all books based on extensive individual research, there isn't a way to check much of anything until someone else goes back through the archives and comes to a different conclusion, so I'll have to trust him on the details. Highly enjoyable in a morbid way.