The Political History of the Devil

Description

The Political History of the Devil is a book by English author Daniel Defoe, first published in 1726. Banned by the Roman Catholic Church, the book gives an account of Defoe's beliefs of how the Devil has participated in world history, and is to blame for the Crusades. Defoe was a Presbyterian and in the book, he also discusses how the devil is close to the powers in the Catholic Church, which is probably the main reason it was banned by them. Over 22 chapters, the author writes about everything from the origin of the Devil, his expulsion from Heaven (along with explaining the 'inaccuracies' of Milton's Paradise Lost), the power of the Devil, his victory over Noah, his agents, his appearance, and, the tools he works with including magicians and fortune-tellers and the black arts in general.

The Political History of the Devil is mentioned in George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss, as being a book belonging to Mr Tulliver.

Part of Anne Haight's List of Banned Books.

This book has 128,805 words, 208 pages in the PDF version, and was originally published in 1726.

Production notes: This ebook of The Political History of the Devil was published by Global Grey on the 16th August 2021. The artwork used for the cover is 'Saint Michael Expelling Lucifer and the Rebellious Angels' by Peter Paul Rubens.