Contents; Introduction; ONE: The Sweetest Meat, the Bitterest Poison; TWO: A Most Unquiet Hiding Place; THREE: The Misgovernment of Woman's Tongue; FOUR: "Publick Fathers" and Cursing Sons; FIVE: Saying and Unsaying; SIX: The Tongue Is a Witch; Epilogue; APPENDIX: Litigation over Speech in Massachusetts, 1630-1692; Notes; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y
Summary
Explaining why the spoken word assumed such importance in the culture of early New England, the author re-examines such famous Puritan events as the Salem witch trials and the banishment of Anne Hutchinson to expose the ever-present fear of what the puritans called "sins of the tongue."
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (p. 203-280) and index