Entertaining Satan Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England

by Demos, John Putnam

• ISBN13: 9780195174847
• ISBN10: 0195174844
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-10-14
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In the first edition of the Bancroft Prize-winning Entertaining Satan, John Putnam Demos presented an entirely new perspective on American witchcraft. By investigating the surviving historical documents of over a hundred actual witchcraft cases, he vividly recreated the world of New Englandduring the witchcraft trials and brought to light fascinating information on the role of witchcraft in early American culture. Now Demos has revisited his original work and updated it to illustrate why these early Americans' strange views on witchcraft still matter to us today. He provides a newPreface that puts forth a broader overview of witchcraft and looks at its place around the world--from ancient times right up to the present.

Author Biography

John Putnam Demos is Samuel Knight Professor of History, Yale University.

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(16)
ONE BIOGRAPHY
``A Desolate Condition''	19	(17)
``Peace with No Man''	36	(21)
Witches: A Collective Portrait	57	(40)
TWO PSYCHOLOGY
``A Diabolical Distemper''	97	(35)
``Let Me Do What I Could''	132	(21)
Accusers, Victims, Bystanders: The Innerlife Dimension	153	(60)
THREE SOCIOLOGY
``The Mind of Our Town''	213	(33)
``Hard Thoughts and Jealousies''	246	(29)
Communities: The Social Matrix of Witchcraft	275	(40)
FOUR HISTORY
``From Generation to Generation''	315	(25)
``Hearts Against Hearts''	340	(28)
Communities: Witchcraft over Time	368	(33)
Appendix: List of Known Witchcraft Cases in Seventeenth-Century New England	401	(10)
Notes	411	(122)
Subject Index	533	(4)
Name Index	537