Saints, Angels & Demons: An A-to-Z Guide to the Holy and the Damned

by Gary Jansen, Katie Ponder (illustrator)

Saints, Angels, and Demons is an illustrated compendium of the fascinating lives and meaningful legacies of nearly 400 iconic figures who have influenced history, religion, literature, and art, throughout the centuries and across the world.

From St. Augustine, whose writings helped shape Western culture to St. Bernadette, whose visions of Mary led to decades of holy pilgrimages by the faithful, and from Archangel Michael, defender of good in the face of evil to Asmodeus, the three-headed demon of lust, temptation, and destruction, the history of the saints and spiritual creatures is, in many respects, the history of the world.

Award-winning author Gary Jansen weaves together the lives of the holy (and not-so-holy) beings who have graced and defiled our earthly realm from the first century BC to the present day. Organized alphabetically, the book provides lyrical capsule histories of nearly 400 figures describing their lives and the details of their most important contributions to the world. Each entry is accompanied by key information such as the associated signs and symbols, patronage, and feast days. A glossary and numerous appendices providing historical and religious context.

For the faithful and the intellectually curious alike, Saints, Angels, and Demons is an essential reference and a comprehensive overview of the history of humanity, as told through a unique perspective.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Christianity

432 pages, Hardcover

Published October 15, 2024

Reviews

[Greg Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the saints! They inspire me—and sometimes make me feel bad about myself. LOL! How do you do what they do? Ha! But in all seriousness, I love the saints, and I love books about the saints.
I received this book as a gift, and it’s beautifully designed. The text is solid, with copious amounts of information. This is definitely not a scholarly book. I have plenty of those books which are overly academic or filled with too much churchy language. This feels more like a book for a general reader who may not be familiar with the saints at all.

That being said, I do think the author, in an attempt to write for a general audience, may have missed some of the nuance with a few of these saints. But I heard the author on a podcast talk about how he was trying to provide portraits of the saints that would be accessible to anyone picking up the book. So overall, these are minor quibbles, and not really quibbles at all. Bottom line: I appreciated the accessibility. The book also includes sections on angels and demons from a Catholic point of view, so know that going in. I actually found those sections fascinating, since I know very little about angels and demons.

Ultimately, I think this serves as a really smart introduction to the spirit of the saints. It must have been a massive undertaking, so kudos to the author, the publisher, and the artist for all their great work. It’s earned a spot on my living room shelf. Blessings!

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book to own. It holds some nice artwork too, but the core is very much like an encylopedic alphabetical rendering for the saints in great majority of copy length. The Angels and Demons were done well too but they are less copy sections. They are the historic, Biblical or other religions' documentation for those entities or and their actions.

It is the record as of 2024 and is inclusive. There are several individuals to be made saints (sanctified status) this year, 2025. Like Carlo Acutis who is one, for instance- but they are not included yet.

It gives you their birth and death dates with all the pertinent information about their lives and actions.

The biggest surprise to me was the pure numbers (dozens and dozens) of/from the first 3 centuries after Christ's life. And these are from many, many geographic areas/ countries and walks of life or stations of class.

It's huge and heavy in physical nature and this one is well worth owning. Strongly suggest reading this a bit at a time for Lent. It took me about 4 weeks to get through this one. If some basic facts or exact information is NOT known by record of documentation or proof- this author lets you know that information. Material is not interpreted, slanted or opinionated upon- just told.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I checked this out because of the cool cover and I feel like the title is extremely misleading. I was HERE for the demons, but 90% of the book is saints. I did learn a lot of interesting stories, and I didn't know that there was no way to "de-saintify" someone, so all those Celtic fertility goddesses and what have you that the church made saints to try to woo pagans in the first millennium are still in here with some bogus bio about how they were 1) super real and 2) super Christian lol. The art is great and the real stand out here.

[Ella · Rating 2 out of 5]

The audible ‘noooooooo’ I released when this mixed up and conflated Mechthild of Magdeburg and Mechthild of Hackeborn, and the even more audible ‘noooooooooooooo’ I made when Ostara was identified as an ancient feast (as opposed to a modern Wiccan feast based on a dubious 19th century reading of one thing only attested to in Bede) knocked off several stars. But the art’s pretty so it gets to keep a couple.

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect read for Lent, with a lot of focus on saints focusing on providing relevant information. There were quite a few saints from the first few centuries A.D. which were questionable. The demons were more in number than the angels, but the book aimed at providing information and it didn’t deviate from its focus.
Might need the reader to move back and forth between sections at times.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I understand catholic in a way I couldn't imagine before.

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was beautiful but I felt like it was missing a lot of information. I picked it up hoping that it would be much more in depth.

[Karrie Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative. I honestly picked it up to read about The Demons.

[Alex Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an elegant and informative history of saints and spiritual entities like St. Michael and Lucifer. I've never seen a book with all of these topics smashed together. Just loved the entries. They packed in a lot of information and did so with finesse. Also, the appendices are a huge benefit for readers, essentially outlining so much of Christian and pagan history to put the lives of the saints in context. Art work is gorgeous and unexpected as well. Not your everyday saints book...seems to be written to reach a wider audience than just Catholics. I'm a fan of the author and his work and this book did not disappoint.