Moncure Daniel Conway (1832-1907), the son of a Virginian plantation-owner, became a Unitarian minister but his anti-slavery views made him controversial. He later became a freethinker, and following the outbreak of the Civil War, which deeply divided his own family, he left the United States for England in 1863. He gained a reputation for being the 'least orthodox preacher in London', and was acquainted with many figures in the literary and scientific world, including Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin. In this two-volume work, first published in 1879, Conway draws from examples across the world to discuss the origins and decline of beliefs in demons. In Volume 2, he discusses the role that the Devil plays in Christianity (including analysis of the story of the Fall of Man), and that similar figures play in other religions, offering the view that such figures are personifications of certain human attributes.
- ISBN10 1289938946
- ISBN13 9781289938949
- Publish Date 5 October 2013 (first published 4 February 2010)
- Publish Status Unknown
- Imprint Nabu Press
- Edition Primary Source ed.
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 490
- Language English