Most readers know Salem only for the city's notorious witch trials.
But years later it became a very different city, one that produced America's first millionaire (still one of history's 75 wealthiest men) and boasted a maritime trade that made it the country's richest city.
Westward expansion and the industrial revolution would eventually erode Salem's political importance, but it was a shocking murder and the scandal that followed which led at last to its fall from national prominence.
Death of an Empire is a finely-written tale of a little-known but remarkably rich era of American history, drawing in characters such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Quincy Adams, and Daniel Webster.
About the Author: ROBERT BOOTH's guidebook Boston's Freedom Trail has been in print for twenty-five years and he has contributed to the anthology Salem: Place, Myth & Memory.
He is curator emeritus of the Pickering House in Salem and serves on the boards of several history organizations.
He lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
| Author | Robert |
|---|---|
| Salem | Place |
Thomas Dunne Books Death of an empire: the rise and murderous fall of salem, america's richest city, hardcover/robert booth
