About the author
Richard Godbeer is a historian of early America whose work focuses on religion, magic, and sexuality in the colonial period. His books here, Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692 and The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England, examine witchcraft accusations and magical belief in seventeenth-century New England with the methods of academic history rather than popular occult writing. Escaping Salem, published by Oxford University Press, reconstructs a lesser-known 1692 witch hunt in Stamford, Connecticut, that unfolded alongside the more famous Salem trials, while The Devil's Dominion, from Cambridge University Press, traces how ordinary New Englanders used magical practices for divination, healing, and protection even as Protestant ministers denounced them as incompatible with faith. Godbeer's work suits readers interested in the documented social and religious history of witchcraft rather than practice-based magic.
📖 Where to start with Richard Godbeer
💬 What our editors say about Richard Godbeer's books
“Godbeer delivers a compelling, well-researched account that successfully challenges conventional wisdom about the uniformity of witch-hunt fervor. The vivid use of eyewitness accounts brings the Stamford tragedy to life,…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692 Godbeer, Richard
“Godbeer’s revisionist account is intellectually stimulating but may frustrate readers expecting a sensationalist tome on witches or supernatural horror. This is a scholarly examination of daily life, not a thrilling narrative of…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England (Revised)
