Salem witch trials: "Judge Sewall's Apology" 1st of 5

The Salem witch trials in 1692, now a byword for terrible injustice, were seen then as a battle between God and Satan for the souls of the new Americans. But one of the trial judges, Samuel Sewall, became so troubled by what he had helped to do that he made a remarkable public apology. His extraordinary act of recantation five years later was a turning point in his own life. Richard Francis's biography, "Judge Sewall's Apology", is read by actor Richard Mitchley.

In its UK edition, the book's subtitle is "The Salem Witch Trials and the Forming of a Conscience"; in the US edition that conscience is entitled "an American Conscience".