The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World

Description

New in paperback! Malcom Gaskill’s latest book is The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World. It is a true and fascinating account of an episode of witchcraft in Springfield, Massachusetts, 40 years before the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692. Gaskill vividly paints the environment of these pioneers:

“…[they] labored to cultivate both land and a new way of living together, only too aware of how closely their fragile world was overseen by God and existed at his mercy. They contended with waves of epidemics, severe flooding and constant tension with the Native Americans they called ‘Indians,’ whose possessions they appropriated. They also clashed with the Dutch traders into whose territory they strayed, and with English planters further down the Connecticut River Valley. Mostly, however, they clashed with their own neighbors, competing furiously for material advantage: farmland, livestock, wealth and power.”

Highly recommended. (paperback, 2021)

Acclaim for The Ruin of All Witches:

“Riveting.” –The New York Times Book Review

“Superb.” –The Guardian

“History book of the year” –The Sunday Times of London

“Malcom Gaskill shows us with filmic vividness the daily life of the riven, marginal community of Springfield, where settlers from a far country dwell on the edge of the unknown…thought-provoking and absorbing.” -Two time Booker Prize winner, the late Dame Hilary Mantel

$18.00

Out of stock