As such suspicion falls through verbal threats, strange happenings and signs that show devilry and witchcraft is happening amongst the people of Springfield. In those four walls she had stared at her thoughts until they took the shape as monsters and devils, and she expressed a wish to see the ruin of all witches. October reads wrapped up with The ruin of all witches and it was definitely a read that will linger with me for a long time. The story of Mary Parsons, and her husband Hugh, both tried as witches following a witch hunt panic in their village ahead of the Salem witch trials.

In my summer holidays I lived in Kent, as that’s where I grew up, so I started doing Kent in the 1640s and going to the local record office and seeing what they had on rituals. Malcolm 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. Malcolm Gaskill's “The Ruin of All Witches” is a fascinating account of a couple named Mary and Hugh Parsons who seemed set to start a flourishing family in the New World, but whose personalities and misfortunes led them to being marked as targets and tried as witches by their own neighbours. Publishing, generally, is in kind of rude health at the moment, and I think publishers work very hard to put attractive, accessible books – non-fiction and fiction – into the hands of intelligent readers. You’ve written about Springfield today as a place of deserted downtown streets, blighted by loss of industry, unemployment and drugs, but with a rich history and enduring spirit.There is much of great interest here to anyone fascinated by America's first European settlers and, in particular, the infamous Witch Trials. It’s impossible to read “The Ruin of All Witches” without thinking of Stacy Schiff’s “ The Witches: Salem, 1692” (2015), about the infamous later panic. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited.

I think I liked it because the narrator of the audiobook was great, shout out Kristin Atherton I will look up what else they’ve done. Over time, ambition led colonists to look outwards in comparison to their neighbours who were more prosperous or held a higher social standing than them. Gossip, arguments, signs and the Parsons' own conversations or statements with others sees these events reported to the town's leaders.A riveting micro-history, brilliantly set within the broader social and cultural history of witchcraft. One sinks its fangs into his forehead and breathes the word “death” in a voice that seems familiar before everything snaps back to normal.

But Gaskill expertly shows how Springfield was effectively in chaos, not least due to the incompatible nature of settler life with Puritanism. We read of settlers coming from mostly, old England and Wales and Ireland, to live in Springfield, as well as some earlier settlers from the same routes moving out from Boston or other towns and villages to make a new start. The book, told in a vivid and very readable fashion creates the background to the Parsons case by explaining the founding of Springfield, the key characters from the village and how they lived their lives in New England. I felt a connection to the place and people, could reach a level of appreciation for thoughts and feelings. So, in terms of embellishment, I think that a lot of historians nowadays are keen to reconstruct historical worlds for their readers but yeah, sure, without actually making anything up.I have to say that we have come an awful long way but, I suppose it goes back to the 19 th century about being overconfident about progress. Gaskill has scoured the archives for every scrap of surviving evidence and presented his findings in an intelligent, meticulously documented, and highly readable way . Through the gripping micro-history of a family tragedy, we glimpse an entire society caught in agonized transition between superstition and enlightenment, tradition and innovation.