"I present here a diabolically fascinating compilation of Devil lore and literature, which I have illustrated with images both spooky and seductive - and amusingly human." "I have inspired many of the greatest artists, including William Blake, Gustave Dore, Duccio, Giotto and Michelangelo. My sway over folk and popular artists continues to this day. I am also captured here with startling vitality in inventive vignettes by authors including Charles Baudelaire, Ambrose Bierce, Mikhail Bulgakov, Anatole France, John Milton, Vladimir Nabokov, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, William Thackeray and Mark Twain. See for yourself the fruits of my inspiration."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The Political History of the Devil is a philosophical and historical work in which Defoe explores the role of the Devil in the history of civilization. It may be said that his view on this topic is that of an 18th-century Presbyterian – he blames the Devil for the Crusades and sees him as close to Europe's Catholic powers. General scholarly opinion is that Defoe really did think of the Devil as a participant in world history. He spends some time discussing Milton's Paradise Lost and explaining why he considers it inaccurate. Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer, and spy, most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is noted for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularize the form in Britain with others such as Samuel Richardson, and is among the founders of the English novel. He was a prolific and versatile writer, producing more than five hundred books, pamphlets, and journals on various topics, including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology, and the supernatural.

The History of the Devil is a classic historical and religious book universally considered one of Daniel Defoe’s greatest works of non-fiction. The book was first published in 1726 and made an immediate impact on English literature, society and the ecclesiastical community in the early 18th century and continues to enrich humanity as a faithful source of historical and biblical truth and wisdom. The History of the Devil cleverly unfolds the actions, devices, and evil nature of Satan and his host of devils against God and mankind throughout the history of the world. Defoe divides the book into two parts: Ancient, or the time from before the creation of the universe to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ; and Modern, or from the time of Christ and establishment of the Christian Church to the present day. His style is one that uniquely blends serious biblical principles and history with lighter satirical narrative, especially when dealing with mankind’s many false presuppositions about the Devil, and clearly delineates when each, or both, is applicable to the subject of discussion.

This book is about representations of the devil in English and European literature. Tracing the fascination in literature, philosophy, and theology with the irreducible presence of what may be called evil, or comedy, or the carnivalesque, this book surveys the parts played by the devil in the texts derived from the Faustus legend, looks at Marlowe and Shakespeare, Rabelais, Milton, Blake, Hoffmann, Baudelaire, Goethe, Dostoevsky, Bulgakov, and Mann, historically, speculatively, and from the standpoint of critical theory. It asks: Is there a single meaning to be assigned to the idea of the diabolical? What value lies in thinking diabolically? Is it still the definition of a good poet to be of the devil's party, as Blake argued?