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Does a fine job of bringing to life a little-known aspect of the tumultuous Puritan era. --Kirkus Reviews With deft insights, Tad Baker illuminates a supernatural mystery from seventeenth-century New England. Thoroughly researched and clearly written, The Devil of Great Island leaves no stone unturned, revealing a popular culture of marvels and wonders. And it offers a gripping tale well told. --Alan Taylor, author of American Colonies Thoroughly fascinating and fascinatingly thorough, Baker's lively narrative of a witchcraft episode in early New Hampshire exposes the many reasons why a 'stone-throwing devil' attacked George Walton and his tavern. In learning about life on Great Island, at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, readers also learn much about a part of New England that does not fit our standard Puritan stereotypes and thus about a diverse aspect of our collective past that will now become better known. <br>--Mary Beth Norton, author of In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 The witch trials of seventeenth-century New England have been extensively worked over by historians, and yet, as this fascinating book shows, there are new insights to be gained by moving the focus beyond Massachusetts and the Puritans. In this meticulously researched case study, Emerson W. Baker not only makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of supernatural beliefs in colonial North America, but also weaves an enjoyable and accessible story that leads the reader up to the events at Salem. --Dr. Owen Davies, author of Popular Magic: Cunning-Folk in English History Emerson Baker combines his talents as historian of early New England and historical archaeologistto untangle the web of personal conflicts, property disputes, and tensions political and religious that underlay the events on Great Island. The Devil of Great Island will surely take its place among the must-read books on witchcraft in seventeenth-century New England. --James Leamon, author of Revolution Downeast: The War for American Independence in Maine In Baker's expert hands, this long ignored witchcraft episode yields important insight into the bizarre imagination and rich social diversity of late 17th century northern New England. Here we encounter the contrasting beliefs of Quakers, Puritans, Baptists, Antinomians, and Godless fishermen as well as the clashing political interests of Native Americans, Europeans, Puritans, and Royalists. This masterful narrative of religious and social pluralism in early New England helps to refocus our vision of the foundations of America and also puts other New England witchcraft events into useful perspective. <br>--Benjamin C. Ray, Director, Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive (http: //etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft), University of Virginia

A weird early-17th-century occurrence of lithobolia, or the stone-throwing devil in a religiously fraught area of coastal New Hampshire ten years before Massachusetts was gripped by witchcraft panic. Baker (History/Salem State Coll.), who has done his research almost too thoroughly, frequently gets overwhelmed by an abundance of material as he surveys the many instances of alleged witchcraft that erupted in colonial America. Faced with such strange events as showers of stones coming out of nowhere, people pointed accusing fingers at suspicious neighbors, usually widows or women without men to protect them. In the case of Great Island, N.H., the tavern of prosperous Quaker landowner George Walton was considerably damaged by unexplained barrages of stones over the course of several months in 1682. Litigious Walton promptly accused his elderly neighbor Hannah Jones, with whom he had been involved in a bitter 30-year property dispute. He called her a witch, while she in turn dubbed him a wizard. Long-simmering tensions emerged. Walton ran an unruly tavern and attracted riffraff on the small island, where land was at a premium and owners guarded their plots jealously. He treated his servants badly. He had joined the Quakers, a radical minority excoriated by other Protestant sects, and even held meetings at his tavern. Walton had close ties to the royalist Mason family, which aimed to wrest control of New Hampshire from the colonists' control. Worst of all, he was against the town's desire to form a parish separate from Portsmouth and hire its own minister. This led some devout Great Islanders to take out their frustration on the Waltons, the family whose presence seemed to mock their desire to maintain a godly community, Baker asserts. He studies copycat cases in the surrounding regions and overall does a fine job of bringing to life a little-known aspect of the tumultuous Puritan era, even if all the detail occasionally makes it a somewhat bewildering.Dark, heavy-going and minutely researched - not for everyone, but history buffs will enjoy it. (Kirkus Reviews)

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EMERSON W. BAKER teaches history at Salem State College in Salem, Massachusetts. He lives in York, Maine, USA.

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