T.E. W. (terez93) reviewed Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts on + 345 more book reviews
I always take reading the books in this series with a grain of salt, so to speak: I think the best description of this whole series was penned, or at least quoted, by another GR reviewer who termed it appropriately, "history lite," owing largely to the simplistic, staccato-like prose, the almost total lack of the characteristic trappings of academic writing, such as source citations and a bibliography, and a rather cursory treatment of the subject matter.
That said, I read these books primarily on account of their appeal to a broad readership - as a historian myself, although this period is decidedly outside of my field or area of specialty, which is ancient Mediterranean, especially Roman history, I'm interested in how people are acquiring their historical knowledge, and this series is certainly popular. This volume is no exception, adding even more heft to the nearly 20 million copies of the series books in print, according to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
First, I'll start with the often-stated observation that Bill O'Reilly didn't write this, or probably ANY of the books in this series. They're all ghostwritten, or, "co-authored" - almost all by Martin Dugard, who seems kind of an odd choice for a writer of popular history. He started out writing for endurance sports magazines, and also worked in corporate marketing. He apparently also wrote a screenplay in 2008, "A Warrior's Heart," which was later released as a feature film at the Cannes Film Festival. All this means, obviously, that he doesn't have a history degree, and is only peripherally a professional journalist, primarily in the area of sports (having apparently covered the Tour de France from 1999 to 2008 as well).
In some ways, it shows. As others have likewise noted, the title is quite misleading, as the book includes many more topics than just the Salem Witch Trials, almost distractedly so. The first 40 or so pages address the first American settlements, but, all told, only about 150 pages cover the tragedy in Salem. The second part of the book focuses on early colonial America, the American Revolution and the founding fathers, particularly Benjamin Franklin, which seems an odd choice of subject matter considering the title. It seemed that the author was seeking to make it to the requisite 270-odd pages of a full-length book, and just couldn't quite get there with the material on Salem alone. Seeing as there are dozens of books on the subject which do, which give it the in-depth treatment it deserves, that tactic seemed out of place.
Even more out of place was the modern material, which was just... bizarre. The author includes, for example, material on a couple of modern-day, high-profile cases of alleged possession, including the famous 1949 exorcism of thirteen-year-old Ronald Hunkeler and the popularity of the 1971 book "The Exorcist." That's a real stretch to include in a book on the Salem Witch Trials, which, you know, did NOT involve anything supernatural or anything to do with actual witches... There may have been a way to tie all the pieces together, but that just didn't happen here, leaving the book as a whole seeming very disjointed, leaving the reader to wonder what the point of all the seemingly-unrelated content is.
It may not have been out of place to expand on the few pages devoted to the popularity of the subject in the modern day, most manifest in what has happened to the modern-day village(s) which comprised colonial Salem - the actual village where most of the events occurred is now called "Danvers," rather than Salem village, which wished to distance itself in subsequent decades from the tragic events that occurred there. That's the opposite of what's happened to the area in the past few decades, which would have shocked even residents of a century ago. Salem is now called "Witch City," and is a kitschy tourist attraction, especially around Halloween. Hotels, guesthouses and AirBnBs are booked six months in advance or more for the month of festivities and revelry.
Of course, the book has to include the requisite political content whereby the author, likely at the behest of O'Reilly, shoehorns in a section on what he considers modern-day "witch hunts," colloquially called "cancel culture." A discussion on the McCarthy era may have been more effective. I won't go through this with a fine-toothed comb to point out all the errors and inaccuracies - although, be warned: there are quite a few, some of them quite glaring.
Overall, it's a decent read, and the general information is at least sufficient. As with the rest of the books in this series, if you can get past the grade-school prose and the errors and omissions, it's at least mildly enjoyable, despite the dark subject matter. Short story, as with the rest of them: don't expect too much, and you won't be too disappointed.
That said, I read these books primarily on account of their appeal to a broad readership - as a historian myself, although this period is decidedly outside of my field or area of specialty, which is ancient Mediterranean, especially Roman history, I'm interested in how people are acquiring their historical knowledge, and this series is certainly popular. This volume is no exception, adding even more heft to the nearly 20 million copies of the series books in print, according to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
First, I'll start with the often-stated observation that Bill O'Reilly didn't write this, or probably ANY of the books in this series. They're all ghostwritten, or, "co-authored" - almost all by Martin Dugard, who seems kind of an odd choice for a writer of popular history. He started out writing for endurance sports magazines, and also worked in corporate marketing. He apparently also wrote a screenplay in 2008, "A Warrior's Heart," which was later released as a feature film at the Cannes Film Festival. All this means, obviously, that he doesn't have a history degree, and is only peripherally a professional journalist, primarily in the area of sports (having apparently covered the Tour de France from 1999 to 2008 as well).
In some ways, it shows. As others have likewise noted, the title is quite misleading, as the book includes many more topics than just the Salem Witch Trials, almost distractedly so. The first 40 or so pages address the first American settlements, but, all told, only about 150 pages cover the tragedy in Salem. The second part of the book focuses on early colonial America, the American Revolution and the founding fathers, particularly Benjamin Franklin, which seems an odd choice of subject matter considering the title. It seemed that the author was seeking to make it to the requisite 270-odd pages of a full-length book, and just couldn't quite get there with the material on Salem alone. Seeing as there are dozens of books on the subject which do, which give it the in-depth treatment it deserves, that tactic seemed out of place.
Even more out of place was the modern material, which was just... bizarre. The author includes, for example, material on a couple of modern-day, high-profile cases of alleged possession, including the famous 1949 exorcism of thirteen-year-old Ronald Hunkeler and the popularity of the 1971 book "The Exorcist." That's a real stretch to include in a book on the Salem Witch Trials, which, you know, did NOT involve anything supernatural or anything to do with actual witches... There may have been a way to tie all the pieces together, but that just didn't happen here, leaving the book as a whole seeming very disjointed, leaving the reader to wonder what the point of all the seemingly-unrelated content is.
It may not have been out of place to expand on the few pages devoted to the popularity of the subject in the modern day, most manifest in what has happened to the modern-day village(s) which comprised colonial Salem - the actual village where most of the events occurred is now called "Danvers," rather than Salem village, which wished to distance itself in subsequent decades from the tragic events that occurred there. That's the opposite of what's happened to the area in the past few decades, which would have shocked even residents of a century ago. Salem is now called "Witch City," and is a kitschy tourist attraction, especially around Halloween. Hotels, guesthouses and AirBnBs are booked six months in advance or more for the month of festivities and revelry.
Of course, the book has to include the requisite political content whereby the author, likely at the behest of O'Reilly, shoehorns in a section on what he considers modern-day "witch hunts," colloquially called "cancel culture." A discussion on the McCarthy era may have been more effective. I won't go through this with a fine-toothed comb to point out all the errors and inaccuracies - although, be warned: there are quite a few, some of them quite glaring.
Overall, it's a decent read, and the general information is at least sufficient. As with the rest of the books in this series, if you can get past the grade-school prose and the errors and omissions, it's at least mildly enjoyable, despite the dark subject matter. Short story, as with the rest of them: don't expect too much, and you won't be too disappointed.
