The Political History of the Devil

"The History of the Devil" redirects here. For the 1996 book, see A History of the Devil.

The Political History of the Devil is a 1726 book by Daniel Defoe.[1]

General scholarly opinion is that Defoe really did think of the Devil as a participant in world history. He spends some time discussing John Milton's Paradise Lost and explaining why he considers it inaccurate.

His view is that of an 18th-century Presbyterian – he blames the Devil for the Crusades and sees him as close to Europe's Catholic powers. This expresses Defoe's anti-Catholicism. The book was banned by the Roman Catholic Church.[2]

Trivia

The book is listed as one belonging to Mr. Tulliver and read by his daughter Maggie in George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ McInelly, Brett (Autumn 2006). The Political History of the Devil. Textual Cultures, 1(2): 175–177.(subscription required)
  2. ^ "BFE – Censored publications – Search result". Archived from the original on 13 July 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ The Mill on the Floss: Book one chapter 3; Mr Riley Gives his Advice

Further reading

Stub icon

This article related to a book about religion is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.