The Ruin of Witches tells the true, dark story of witch hunts in mid-17th-century Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1651, residents are confronted with inexplicable misfortunes- spoiling food, sick livestock, strange visions and child deaths- leading to fear, rumours and accusations of witchcraft and heresy. Amidst this paranoia, suspicion falls on a young family, Hugh Parsons, a headstrong bricklayer, and his wife Mary, whose attempts to build a life together end in tragedy. Malcolm Gaskill brings this period to life using rich and previously largely neglected source material, and shows how deep-rooted supernatural fears and social tensions could tear a community apart whilst New World life balanced between religious obsessions and the rise of rational thought. Malcolm Gaskill is a British historian specialising in early modern social and cultural history, with a particular focus on witchcraft trials, supernatural beliefs and the transition to rationality in the early modern period. He regularly publishes academic works and popular history books that make complex historical phenomena accessible to a wide audience. His expertise in the use of underused or neglected sources enables him to present vivid and in-depth reconstructions of communities and individuals from the past.