A cultural history of witch-hunting, from the Romans through McCarthy. The term witch-hunt is used today to describe everything from political scandals to school board shake-ups. But its origins are far from trivial. Long before the Salem witch trials, women and men were rounded up by neighbors, accused of committing horrific crimes using supernatural powers, scrutinized by priests and juries, and promptly executed. The belief in witchcraft--and the deep fear of evil it instilled in communities--led to a cycle of accusation, anger, and purging that has occurred repeatedly in the West for centuries.

Martyrs of Lyons: a story from the beginning -- A witch-hunting panorama, 150-1750 -- The Malleus maleficarum: a book and its travels -- Windsor, CT, 1654: a town entertaining Satan -- Witch-hunting in the American colonies, 1607-1692 -- Mary Parsons: a life under suspicion -- Rebecca Nurse: a "witch" and her trials -- The most famous witch-hunt of all, 1692-93 -- Rev. Cotton Mather: a minister and his demons -- Anti-Masonry: a politics of panic -- A saga of scares, 1700-2000 -- Fells Acres Day School: a question of abuse.