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The clang of the first trolley bell in 1902 signaled the beginning of a century of excitement and celebrity that would transform the tiny town of Salem, New Hampshire, into a recreation destination for millions. With the trolley company's opening of Canobie Lake Park in August 1902 and "Bet a Million" Gates's big gamble on Rockingham Park in 1906, New Englanders, regardless of age, ethnicity, or social status now shared a recreational common denominator. At Canobie Lake Park, generations played, met, danced, and fell in love. Rockingham Park brought world-class horse and auto racing, the nation's first modern lottery, and a parade of Hollywood's biggest stars. The two parks hold fond memories for the millions who have passed through their gates, and for the thousands who have worked there over the years, their jobs at Canobie and Rockingham are often the ones they most fondly remember.

In 1801 Elias Hasket Derby Jr. leaves his two year retirement. His father, the country’s first millionaire, has left him a money pit that many would consider one of the nations first American Castles. The expense to keep up this mansion and his leisurely life style has forced Elias back into action. He will take command of the local militia to fill in the ponds in the Common as part of an elaborate plot. The plot would entail the beautification of this neighborhood and entice a series of merchants and ship captains to build a series of two grand brick mansions set apart at fixed distances around the new park. All attached to a series of smuggling tunnels that would lead from the wharf, to their stores, and the banks. An elaborate scheme filled with Masons,pirates, a Secretary of the Navy, Senators, Representatives, a Supreme Court Justice, Presidents, and a touch of murder! Dig into the tunnels of Salem and find the underbelly of our nation!

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Cleopatra, the #1 national bestseller, unpacks the mystery of the Salem Witch Trials. It began in 1692, over an exceptionally raw Massachusetts winter, when a minister's daughter began to scream and convulse. It ended less than a year later, but not before 19 men and women had been hanged and an elderly man crushed to death. The panic spread quickly, involving the most educated men and prominent politicians in the colony. Neighbors accused neighbors, parents and children each other. Aside from suffrage, the Salem Witch Trials represent the only moment when women played the central role in American history. In curious ways, the trials would shape the future republic. As psychologically thrilling as it is historically seminal, The Witches is Stacy Schiff's account of this fantastical story -- the first great American mystery unveiled fully for the first time by one of our most acclaimed historians.