The Salem Witch Trials

We're all taught in school about the Louisiana Purchase, supposedly the greatest bargain in American history. Napoleon's deal with the Americans is widely remembered as a triumph for the United States… but is this history really as simple as we’re often taught?Our guest today is ...  Show more

When and where did the Civil War end? Was it really over when Lee surrendered at Appomattox?Don is joined for this episode by Caroline E. Janney, Professor at the University of Virginia and author of 'Ends of War: The Unfinished Fight of Lee’s Army after Appomattox'.Listen to hea ...  Show more

For more than two centuries, between the late 1400s and early 1700s, a terror of witches gripped Europe. From Scotland to Spain, thousands of people were accused, tortured and executed. But as the hysteria faded in Europe, it crossed the Atlantic. In 1692, in New England, it took ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the outbreak of witch trials in Massachusetts in 1692-3, centred on Salem, which led to the execution of twenty people, with more dying in prison before or after trial. Some were men, including Giles Corey who died after being pressed with heavy ro ...  Show more

In 1692, 19 members of a small New England community were hanged for witchcraft. Over the course of the year, young girls convulsed and barked like dogs, women confessed to flying on poles to satanic sabbaths, and villagers recounted seeing ghostly apparitions and translucent cat ...  Show more

We often think of the witch trials as something in the deep and distant past.But, as we'll hear in today's episode, the attitudes and behaviour that led to witch trials is as present today as it was then.In this third and final episode of our limited series, Inside the Witch Tria ...  Show more