Bernard Rosenthal started his research on the Salem witchcraft trials by asking a simple question, why were these victims of Salem, who willingly died instead of confessing that they renounced God, not considered Christian martyrs. However, upon finding that some of these victims were considered martyrs by the church, Rosenthal changed his question to, "How have we variously perceived these victims? And how and why have we given Salem the place it has in American history." By trying to answer these questions, Rosenthal found considerable differences between what actually happened in 1692, and what has been told to have happened. This simple question of why the Salem "witches" were not considered martyrs led Rosenthal into writing Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692 for the purpose of examining the happenings of 1692, and disclaiming popular beliefs about the Salem witchcraft trials.

Rosenthal's belief was that the Salem witchcraft trials did...