Judge Sewall's Apology: The Salem Witch Trials and the Forming of a Conscience

Simultaneous US publication: ISBN 0007163622.

This is the biography of Samuel Sewall (1652-1730), a colonial American writer, intellectual, judge, and community leader. Its originality lies in the fact that it is the first biography written of this important figure and that it explores both the public and private existence of a puritan intellectual of the period. Its significance is that it sheds light not merely on the assumptions behind the Salem witch trials, but also on the perception of human psychology and the developments of religion and society during this period. The project was supported by AHRB funded research leave and a Writer's Award from Arts Council England. Its rigour lies in the way political, social, religious and personal elements are held in balance. Evidence of its significance lies in the fact that Margaret Drabble chose it as one of her three books of 2005 in the TLS and the fact that it was serialised in abridged form as BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week (22-26/08/05).It was widely and favourably reviewed. Hilary Spurling in the Telegraph described it as a 'timely and disturbing book'; David Aaronovitch in The Times referred to it as 'this marvellous book'.