For too long the accepted view of the Salem witch trials has been that the events were caused either by fraud and/or hysteria and that no witchcraft was practiced by the accused. The religious leaders of the day stirred up zealotry and the justice system was either too corrupt or blind to properly administer justice. As a result, all of the convictions were a grave miscarriage of justice. However, there was actual witchcraft practiced in colonial New England and it is possible that its effects were more than merely psychological. While miscarriages of justice were carried out, especially when...