Daniel Defoe

The Political History of the Devil (Annotated) (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

• This edition includes the following editor's introduction: Daniel Defoe beyond Robinson Crusoe

First published in 1726, “The Political History of the Devil” is a study of the devil by English novelist, satirist and political journalist Daniel Defoe.

Irreverent and ironic, “The Political History of the Devil” examines the evolution of evil and the rise of the historical force known as " the devil." Defoe's passionate and perceptive survey starts with Satan's origins, chronicling the devil's presence in the Bible and his growing sway over humanity. An overview of satanic influences on eighteenth-century life follows, focusing on monarchs and tyrants as well as common folk. Defoe supports his arguments not only with extensive quotes from scripture but also with citations from other sources, including Milton's “Paradise Lost.”

Written at the dawn of the Enlightenment, this treatise recaptures a moment in time when widespread certainty of the devil's existence was dwindling. Defoe, a firm believer, posits that the devil reacted to the changing times by shifting his influence from the supernatural realm of witches and wizards to the ordinary world of " beaus, beauties, wits, and fools." This intriguing view of politics and society during the 1700s offers a vivid contemporary portrait of a culture torn between theology and reason.

General scholarly opinion is that Defoe, a Protestant Dissenter, really did think of the Devil as a participant in world history. He suggests that the devil appears on earth both in his own form and through inhabiting the bodies and minds of other beings. Defoe was strongly anti-Catholic and here he associates the devil with Catholicism, specifically with the Pope. Defoe blames the Devil for the Crusades and sees him as close to Europe's Catholic powers. The book was banned by the Roman Catholic Church.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: ePembaBooks
• Erscheinungstermin: 16. November 2022
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9791222024462
• Artikelnr.: 66449963

Autorenporträt

Daniel Foe was born in London c. 1660, the son of James, a prosperous chandler and Presbyterian dissenter. He lived through the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of 1666, which left only his and two other houses standing in the area. As a general merchant, he was able to buy a country estate and a ship, though he was nearly always in debt. He joined the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685, but was pardoned. However, he spent a spell in debtor's prison, after which he travelled Europe and Scotland, returning in 1695, when, now surnamed Defoe, he began serving as a Commissioner of the Glass Duty and, in 1696, running a brick and tile factory. He became a prolific pamphleteer, which led him to the pillory and Newgate Prison. In exchange for his liberty, he agreed to work as an intelligence agent for the Tories, then as a propagandist for the Whigs, and then as a mouthpiece for the Anglo-Scottish Union. His novels and non-fiction books occupied him from the mid 1710s until his death in 1731.