The Life and Times of Cotton Mather
by Kenneth Silverman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Kenneth SilvermanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2001-12-25
ISBN: 1566492068
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Welcome Rain Publishers
Book Reviews of The Life and Times of Cotton Mather
Book Review: Hard To Cotton To
Summary: 5 Stars
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF COTTON MATHER won the Pulitzer Prize in biography in 1985, and very rightfully so. It is a highly intelligent, keenly insightful, and scholarly yet readable account of a very remarkable man. Those who can find this book will not be disappointed. They will come to know the Reverend Mather quite well.
Cotton Mather was a brilliant, erudite, accomplished, charitable man. He was also devout--truly devout. He was not just putting on or performing a role. He believed. He suffered much, outliving two loving wives only to end up with a shrew who made his later years difficult. Mather buried thirteen of his fifteen children, and the reader will suffer with him as he laments these losses in his diary. He made doing good a part of his daily routine. Mather also was instrumental in bringing the smallpox vaccine into use in the Boston area, though he was much maligned for it.
But there is a dark side to Cotton Mather as well. He was ambitious, self-promoting, petty, vain, spiteful, and envious. And when it comes to the Salem Witch Trials (with which he had very little to do), Mather believed the witches got what they deserved. Unlike his friend Samuel Sewell, Mather never apologized or even regretted his actions. Though there are aspects of Mather's character that are likable, he is very hard to like. Mather was a complex, interesting, and often contradictory man. Kenneth Silverman did a magnificent job of bringing him to life. Anyone interested in early American history or in outstanding biography will find this book most gratifying.
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