A Fever in Salem

In the late winter and early spring of 1692, residents of Salem Village, Massachusetts, began to suffer from strange physical and mental maladies. The randomness of the victims, and unusual symptoms that were seldom duplicated, led residents to suspect an otherworldly meance. Their suspicions and fears eventually prompted the infamous Salem witch trials. While most historians have concentrated their efforts on the accused, Laurie Winn Carlson focuses on the afflicted. In A Fever in Salem she offers a compelling argument that the "bewitched" victims in fact suffered from an outbreak of encephalitis. Book jacket.