num_pages: 304
description: From the Bible through Dante and up to Treblinka and Guantnamo Bay here is a rich source for nightmares. -- The New York Times Book ReviewThree thousand years of visions of Hell from the ancient Near East to modern AmericaA Penguin ClassicFrom 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.For more than seventy-five years Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 2000 titles Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
language: English
title: The Penguin Book of Hell
publisher: Penguin Classics