The purpose of this book is to try to set straight the record of the witchcraft phenomena at Salem, Massachusetts, in the year 1692, about which much has been written and much misunderstood. The more I studied the documents of what actually took place in the community, and what was actually said and written by the participants, the more I found myself in opposition to the traditional interpretation of these events. It seemed to me that a serious reconsideration of them was in order.