The book revolves around the story of the Salem witch-hunts that,unfortunately, was a product of mere mass-hysteria. A mass-hysteria that caused the deaths of 20 innocent people based solely on the testimonies of a group of girls led by Abigail Williams. Starkey points out the fact that such hysteria, affecting many people at the same time, can feed upon itself and can ultimately be fatal. This was the major factor in the case of the …showed first 75 words of 259 total…

…showed last 75 words of 259 total…of the community combined with the fanatic leaderships of Hathorne and Corwin, over-rode whatever rationality might have prevented the hanging and torture of innocent people. Starkey wanted to emphasize the most in this book is to indentify the real cause of the Salem witch trials that has been mistaken for religious orientations and fanatism: mass-hysteria. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography** Starkey, Marion Lena. The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Enquiry into the Salem Witch Trials. New York: Knopf, 1949.