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
editThe 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
editReferences
edit- ^ McInelly, Brett (Autumn 2006). The Political History of the Devil. Textual Cultures, 1(2): 175–177.(subscription required)
- ^ "BFE – Censored publications – Search result".
- ^ The Mill on the Floss: Book one chapter 3; Mr Riley Gives his Advice
Further reading
edit- Baine, Rodney M. (1962). Daniel Defoe and "The History and Reality of Apparitions". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 106(4): 335–347. (subscription required)
- Hudson, Nicholas (1988). 'Why God no Kill the Devil?' The Diabolical Disruption of Order in Robinson Crusoe. The Review of English Studies, 39(156): 494–501. (subscription required)
External links
edit- Online at Archive.org
The History of the Devil public domain audiobook at LibriVox- Literary Encyclopedia entry
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