Devil's Disciples

Peter Charles Hoffer is Research Professor of History at the University of Georgia and the author of numerous books on early American law and history, including the second edition of Law and People in Colonial America, also available from Johns Hopkins.

This engaged account of New England's most notorious crisis fuses scholarly craft and chutzpah with the skills of a master story teller. The author's expertise as a legal historian, coupled with explorations of oral culture and informed conjectures on such topics as Tituba's origins and 'recovered' memories of child abuse, give The Devil's Disciples a distinguished place in the ever-lengthening line of Salem witchcraft studies. -- Mike McGiffert, Editor William and Mary Quarterly A welcome recent edition is Peter Charles Hoffer's The Devil's Disciples (1996), which offers biographical and historical contexts while deliberately avoiding the kind of Procrustean thesis that has skewed so many earlier studies. -- David C. Downing Books and Culture In this fascinating and well-researched study, Peter Charles Hoffer examines the events at Salem in both their social and legal contexts... Anyone interested in history of American culture or the development of the legal system will enjoy this book. It reads like a good novel in that you cannot wait to see what happens next, even though the verdicts were passed in 1692. -- Jennifer M. Mitten New England Historical and Genealogical Register A superb legal scholar, Hoffer provides an excellent discussion of the procedures and evidence used in the trials. He reveals that grand juries demanded more tangible evidence of witchcraft that the assertions of afflicted adolescent girls before issuing indictments. Hoffer then demonstrates that, in determining the guilt of the accused, the trial juries essentially followed the lead of the judges, who were insufficiently prepared for witchcraft cases. American Historical Review Hoffer's central argument is persuasive and significant... [He] furthers understanding of Salem witchcraft by comparing it to allegations of satanic abuse and child molestation in our own time. Without denying the existence of child abuse today or the importance of exposing it to public view, Hoffer compares the Salem witchcraft hysteria to the collective fantasies of victimization that have overtaken United States communities in recent years... [He] demonstrates the continued relevance of the Salem episode and its important place in American history. Journal of American History Reads like a good novel... You cannot wait to see what happens next, even though the verdicts were passed in 1692. New England Historical and Genealogical Register