Book excerpt: This detailed volume tells the dark story of the Salem witchcraft trials with a lively narrative and primary source documents, such as transcripts and letters, that highlight the tales and voices of both the victims and the perpetrators. Readers will learn about the harsh living conditions as well as the religious and social views of the day and how they influenced society's reactions to the unknown and difficult (or impossible) to explain. This text also meets the Common Core standards for history and social studies, such as evaluating various explanations for actions or events and determining which explanation best accords with textual evidence.