The Political History of the Devil explained

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

• De Betoverde Weereld

Further reading

• Baine, Rodney M. (1962). Daniel Defoe and "The History and Reality of Apparitions". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 106(4): 335–347.
• 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.

External links

• Online at Archive.org
  • Literary Encyclopedia entry

Notes and References

1. McInelly, Brett (Autumn 2006). The Political History of the Devil. Textual Cultures, 1(2): 175–177.
2. Web site: BFE – Censored publications – Search result.
3. The Mill on the Floss: Book one chapter 3; Mr Riley Gives his Advice