In the winter of 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts, a few teenage girls began suffering from a mysterious affliction. When the condition worsened, people in the village believed the devil must be at work. The afflicted girls made accusations of witchcraft, and the jails filled up with suspected witches. Before the Salem witch trials ended, nineteen innocent men and women had been executed. Author Deborah Kent examines this tragic period in American history, including a history of the belief in witchcraft, the trials in Salem, and their lasting legacy