The Penguin Book of Hell (Penguin Classics) by Scott G. Bruce

"From the Bible through Dante and up to Treblinka and Guantánamo Bay, here is a rich source for nightmares." --The New York Times Book Review

Three thousand years of visions of Hell, from the ancient Near East to modern America

From the Hebrew Bible's shadowy realm of Sheol to twenty-first-century visions of Hell on earth, The Penguin Book of Hell takes us through three thousand years of eternal damnation. Along the way, you'll take a ferry ride with Aeneas to Hades, across the river Acheron; meet the Devil as imagined by a twelfth-century Irish monk--a monster with a thousand giant hands; wander the nine circles of Hell in Dante's Inferno, in which gluttons, liars, heretics, murderers, and hypocrites are made to endure crime-appropriate torture; and witness the debates that raged in Victorian England when new scientific advances cast doubt on the idea of an eternal hereafter. Drawing upon religious poetry, epics, theological treatises, stories of miracles, and accounts of saints' lives, this fascinating volume of hellscapes illuminates how Hell has long haunted us, in both life and death.

Review

“Now that I know what Hell is like, I shall take more pains to avoid it. This is an amazing collection.” —Philip Pullman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Golden Compass

“Quite terrifying.” —The New Yorker

“You will be [frightened] by The Penguin Book of Hell, in which writers from antiquity to the 20th century describe the eternal, infernal hereafter. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” —The Washington Post

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Classics

Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 4, 2018

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Print length ‏ : ‎ 304 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143131621

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 9780143131625

Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.4 ounces

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.06 x 0.76 x 7.74 inches