"Salem Story" engages the story of the Salem witch trials by contrasting an analysis of the surviving primary documentation with the way events of 1692 have been mythologised by our culture. Resisting the temptation to explain the Salem witch trials in the context of an inclusive theoretical framework, the book examines a variety of individual motives that converged to precipitate the witch-hunt. Of the many assumptions about the Salem witch trials, the most persistent is that they were instigated by a circle of hysterical girls. Through an analysis of what actually happened - by perusal of the primary materials with the 'close reading' approach of a literary critic - a different picture emerges, one where 'hysteria' inappropriately describes the logical, rational strategies of accusation and confession followed by the accusers, males and females alike.

Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1 Dark Eve
2 The girls of Salem
3 Boys and girls together
4 June 10, 1692
5 July 19, 1692
6 August 19, 1692
7 George Burroughs and the Mathers
8 September 22, 1692
9 Assessing an inextricable storm
10 Salem story

Appendix: Letter of William Phips to George Corwin, April 26, 1693 219