Covering a period of 2000 years, this book offers an interdisciplinary exploration of the devil's role in the Western tradition and draws from history, religion, art, literature, media studies, and anthropology to provide a multifaceted view of the devil over time.
The Routledge History of the Devil in the Western Tradition examines topics such as the devil's scriptural origins, medieval development, and role in witch-hunting and possession cases, as well as the influence of the demonic on contemporary issues like terrorism, political polarisation, and digital culture. Collectively, this volume demonstrates that the demonological imagination has served as part of the glue holding Western societies together. While contexts, misfortunes, and anxieties have shifted according to time and place, many of the dynamics that underlie the devil’s construction and detection have important continuities. This book, then, provides an innovative history of the anti-West—the West as seen through its anxieties, fears, and attempts to define and police itself and its boundaries.
With contributions from 28 leading scholars in the field, this volume is of interest to all students and scholars of the devil in the Western world.
Edited by:
Richard Raiswell,
Michelle D. Brock,
David R. Winter
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 246mm,
Width: 174mm,
ISBN: 9780367561420
ISBN 10: 0367561425
Series: Routledge Histories
Pages: 578
Publication Date: 29 May 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
1: Satan in Biblical Literature Justin Jeffcoat Schedtler 2: The Myth of the Devil in the Early Church Archie T. Wright 3: Experiences of Evil: The Devil in the Early Middle Ages Peter Dendle 4: The Devil Theorised and Rationalised Christopher S. Mackay 5: Devils, Community and its Boundaries Michael D. Bailey 6: Placing Satan Eileen Gardiner 7: The Devil’s Minions David R. Winter 8: Satan and the Divine Plan: Politics, the Devil and the End of Days Arthur H. Williamson 9: Producing Devil Knowledge: Experience, Theory and Evidence Richard Raiswell 10: Communicating the Devil Marion Gibson 11: Devil Finders Jan Machielsen 12: Rituals of Contamination, Purification and Eradication Ismael del Olmo 13: The Devil and Statecraft Gary K. Waite 14: Satan, Sex and Gender in Early Modern Europe Erika Gasser 15: Seeing Satan Linda C. Hults 16: The Devil and Colonialism Jutta Wimmler 17: “Evil and desirable”: Gothic Inversion and the Satanic Monster in 18th- and 19th-Century Fiction Miranda Corcoran 18: The Devil, Protest and the Age of Revolution Per Faxneld 19: The Devil and War, 1600-1920 David R. Lawrence 20: Devil, Temptation, Conscience, Emotion Charlotte-Rose Millar 21: Conjuring the Devil: The Cinematic Satan, 1899-2020 W. Scott Poole 22: Humanising the Devil, c. 1850-2000 Karl Bell 23: The Emergence of a Satan Problem Bill Ellis 24: Communities, Purity and Conspiracy Sarah Hughes 25: Demons, Missionaries and Migrants Johanneke Kroesbergen-Kamps 26: The Digital Devil Philip L. Frana 27: Into the 21st Century Robert L. Ivie
Richard Raiswell is Professor of History at the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada. He has published works on demon possession, proof in witchcraft cases, rhetoric and demonism, and demonism and colonialism. His most recent book is The Medieval Devil: A Reader (trans. and ed. with David Winter, 2022). Michelle D. Brock is Professor of History at Washington and Lee University, USA. She has published works on witchcraft and demonology, religious identity, and women and gender in early modern Scotland. Her most recent book is Plagues of the Heart: Crisis and Covenanting in a Seventeenth-Century Scottish Town (2024). David R. Winter is Professor of History at Brandon University, Canada. His books include The Llanthony Stories (2021) and The Medieval Devil: A Reader (trans. and ed. with Richard Raiswell 2022). He is currently working on a translation of 16th-century Icelandic bishop Oddur Einarsson’s Descriptio qualiscunque Islandiae.
