A History of the Devil: From the Middle Ages to the Present

This highly original, engaging book is a journey through time and space in search of the changing perception and significance of the devil in western culture. Written by French historian Robert Muchembled, the book begins with the thirteenth century, when visual images of Satan began to appear, and looks forward to the twentieth century, dealing with the films of Stanley Kubrick, including "Eyes Wide Shut. The book reveals that changing figures of evil correlate over time with the ways in which conceive of their destinies and the future of their civilization. Fascination with the diabolical having reached its height in the witch hunts of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it began to show signs of decline by the Enlightenment, a process that has continued up to today. The result of this process, for modern western society, is a subtle metamorphosis of the notion of the devil from fear of Satan into an eternal demon, "the demon within" characterized by distrust of oneself and one's desires. This conception of the diabolical is visible today in our interest in the supernatural and exorcism. "A History of the Devil is a rich, vivid account of a topic that never ceases to intrigue.