Author Stacy Schiff Debunks The Biggest Misconceptions About The Salem Witch Trials

If you read "The Crucible" in high school, you probably think you have a pretty solid understanding of the Salem Witch Trials. Author Stacy Schiff wants you to rethink that.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author's latest work is The Witches: Salem , 1692 , in which she takes a fresh look at the hysteria that led to the executions of 19 people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. During a conversation with HuffPost Live's Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani on Tuesday, Schiff discussed some of the biggest misconceptions that have become embedded in our cultural understanding of what happened in Salem; for example, the lingering image of these alleged witches being burned at the stake. As Schiff explained, the accused were executed in a completely different way. 

Watch Schiff dispel the myths in the video above, and click here for the full HuffPost Live conversation about The Witches.

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