Over nine months in the year 1692, 14 women and five men were executed in the colony of Massachusetts for the crime of witchcraft. The Salem Witch trials, as the event has become known, is an important part of the narrative of the founding of America and highlights the misguided religious fervor, power dynamics and desperate lives of the Puritans in New England.

This week's All Together features a conversation with Stacy Schiff , the author of the new book: The Witches: Salem, 1692 . In this riveting volume, Schiff brings the main figures of the tale to life in a meticulous historical narrative and tells a cautionary tale. Far from the kitsch and myth that surround Salem today, Schiff brings back the real spirit of fear and faith and drove the witch trials and illuminates lessons we can learn for faith in our time.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Schiff has written several critically acclaimed biographies on Vera Nabokov, the wife of Vladimir Nabokov, Benjamin Franklin, and Cleopatra.

All Together is produced by Katelyn Boguki, sound engineered by Brad Shannon and edited by Nicholas Offenberg. You can download All Together on iTunes or Stitcher.