About the author
Emerson W. Baker is a historian and professor at Salem State University whose work focuses on early American history, particularly the Salem witch trials. His best-known book, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience (Oxford University Press, 2016), examines the 1692 Salem Village outbreak, in which accusers, mainly young women, reported physical torments they attributed to witchcraft, and situates the resulting trials within the wider social, religious and political tensions of colonial Massachusetts. The Devil of Great Island: Witchcraft and Conflict in Early New England looks at an earlier, less well-known episode a decade before Salem, in which the town of Great Island, New Hampshire, reported unexplained noises, moving objects and stones falling inside a local tavern. Baker's approach is that of a documentary historian rather than a believer or debunker, reading witchcraft accusations as evidence of real social conflict in early New England communities.
📖 Where to start with Emerson W Baker
💬 What our editors say about Emerson W Baker's books
“This book serves as an excellent corrective to simplistic narratives about witchcraft trials, providing a grounded look at the Lithobolia phenomenon in New Hampshire. However, readers seeking sensationalist ghost stories or…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on The Devil of Great Island: Witchcraft and Conflict in Early New England
“This is a meticulously researched historical analysis that effectively dismantles monolithic explanations for the Salem events. Baker’s argument regarding converging pressures is compelling and well-supported by archival…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience
