Witchcraft at Salem

by Chadwick Hansen. Braziller, $6.95. Professor Hansen proposes to correct what he believes are widespread misconceptions about the role of the clergy in the Salem witch trials. A quick local survey reveals that what is widespread is not misconception but candid, cheerful, total ignorance, which this serviceable book can readily dispel. Notwithstanding the dire hints put about by his publisher, Mr. Hansen is not claiming there was an active coven behind every bayberry bush on the North Shore.