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The Dove and the Dragon: A Cultural History of the Apocalypse
No Western religious concept has been as socially, culturally, economically, and politically significant as that of the apocalypse. Neither heaven and hell, nor sin and salvation, nor even God and the devil have merited the attention of billions of people in the manner that belief in the end of the world has. Apocalyptic thinking is riven by a fruitful--and at times dangerous--binary between the hopes for a coming millennium when all shall be perfected or of a fiery deluge when the earth shall be destroyed.
The Dove and the Dragon is the first comprehensive history of Western apocalypticism. Ed Simon introduces a new system for classifying movements concerned with the end of history, between hopeful, millennial "doves" and violent, apocalyptic "dragons." This framing connects a seemingly disparate phenomenon, from medieval millennialism to modern Marxism, Reformation apocalypticism to contemporary techno-utopianism. Expected groups are considered, but unexpected phenomena are interpreted through the lens of apocalypticism as well to argue that those that have often been classified as "secular" still take part in this ancient theological category.
This new way of interpreting history gives sense to the full scope of apocalypticism as a series of movements and as a genre, including not just religion and theology, but politics, philosophy, and pop culture as well. The Dove and the Dragon promises to be the standard introduction for years to come.
The Dove and the Dragon is the first comprehensive history of Western apocalypticism. Ed Simon introduces a new system for classifying movements concerned with the end of history, between hopeful, millennial "doves" and violent, apocalyptic "dragons." This framing connects a seemingly disparate phenomenon, from medieval millennialism to modern Marxism, Reformation apocalypticism to contemporary techno-utopianism. Expected groups are considered, but unexpected phenomena are interpreted through the lens of apocalypticism as well to argue that those that have often been classified as "secular" still take part in this ancient theological category.
This new way of interpreting history gives sense to the full scope of apocalypticism as a series of movements and as a genre, including not just religion and theology, but politics, philosophy, and pop culture as well. The Dove and the Dragon promises to be the standard introduction for years to come.
285 pages, Paperback
First published April 12, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 5, 2026
Real Rating: 1.5* of five
The Publisher Says: No Western religious concept has been as socially, culturally, economically, and politically significant as that of the apocalypse. Neither heaven and hell, nor sin and salvation, nor even God and the devil have merited the attention of billions of people in the manner that belief in the end of the world has. Apocalyptic thinking is riven by a fruitful--and at times dangerous--binary between the hopes for a coming millennium when all shall be perfected or of a fiery deluge when the earth shall be destroyed.
The Dove and the Dragon is the first comprehensive history of Western apocalypticism. Ed Simon introduces a new system for classifying movements concerned with the end of history, between hopeful, millennial "doves" and violent, apocalyptic "dragons." This framing connects a seemingly disparate phenomenon, from medieval millennialism {SIC} to modern Marxism, Reformation apocalypticism to contemporary techno-utopianism. Expected groups are considered, but unexpected phenomena are interpreted through the lens of apocalypticism as well to argue that those that have often been classified as "secular" still take part in this ancient theological category.
This new way of interpreting history gives sense to the full scope of apocalypticism as a series of movements and as a genre, including not just religion and theology, but politics, philosophy, and pop culture as well. The Dove and the Dragon promises to be the standard introduction for years to come.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Per the publisher, "Ed Simon is Public Humanities Special Faculty in the English Department of Carnegie Mellon University and a staff writer for LitHub, as well as the editor of Belt Magazine." Mistaking the date relationship between the Plague of Justinian (540s) and the Black Death (1340s); cited as "a century" instead of "eight centuries," which should not happen even as a draft typo. Multiple infelicities occurred in the realms of definitions, f/ex: when writing a book about apocalypses it's wise to state your definition early, buttress it with cited external sources, and stick to it; never happened that I noticed, we went from millenarian (the "ism" intended above, where I wrote "sic") ideas to technological ones (all cited, but to what purpose if even I can find introduced errors?). And this is a magazine editor writing a book for a religious publisher.
I read the whole book because I was so deeply stunned this made it out of the editing process in this condition. He says of the book, "If a reading of this book demonstrates anything, it’s that that every century has a contingent of people, both smaller and larger depending on circumstance, who are convinced that they’re living in the last days." I am now.
Fortress Press wants $39.00. They do not deserve it.
The Publisher Says: No Western religious concept has been as socially, culturally, economically, and politically significant as that of the apocalypse. Neither heaven and hell, nor sin and salvation, nor even God and the devil have merited the attention of billions of people in the manner that belief in the end of the world has. Apocalyptic thinking is riven by a fruitful--and at times dangerous--binary between the hopes for a coming millennium when all shall be perfected or of a fiery deluge when the earth shall be destroyed.
The Dove and the Dragon is the first comprehensive history of Western apocalypticism. Ed Simon introduces a new system for classifying movements concerned with the end of history, between hopeful, millennial "doves" and violent, apocalyptic "dragons." This framing connects a seemingly disparate phenomenon, from medieval millennialism {SIC} to modern Marxism, Reformation apocalypticism to contemporary techno-utopianism. Expected groups are considered, but unexpected phenomena are interpreted through the lens of apocalypticism as well to argue that those that have often been classified as "secular" still take part in this ancient theological category.
This new way of interpreting history gives sense to the full scope of apocalypticism as a series of movements and as a genre, including not just religion and theology, but politics, philosophy, and pop culture as well. The Dove and the Dragon promises to be the standard introduction for years to come.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Per the publisher, "Ed Simon is Public Humanities Special Faculty in the English Department of Carnegie Mellon University and a staff writer for LitHub, as well as the editor of Belt Magazine." Mistaking the date relationship between the Plague of Justinian (540s) and the Black Death (1340s); cited as "a century" instead of "eight centuries," which should not happen even as a draft typo. Multiple infelicities occurred in the realms of definitions, f/ex: when writing a book about apocalypses it's wise to state your definition early, buttress it with cited external sources, and stick to it; never happened that I noticed, we went from millenarian (the "ism" intended above, where I wrote "sic") ideas to technological ones (all cited, but to what purpose if even I can find introduced errors?). And this is a magazine editor writing a book for a religious publisher.
I read the whole book because I was so deeply stunned this made it out of the editing process in this condition. He says of the book, "If a reading of this book demonstrates anything, it’s that that every century has a contingent of people, both smaller and larger depending on circumstance, who are convinced that they’re living in the last days." I am now.
Fortress Press wants $39.00. They do not deserve it.
October 8, 2025
Yes, a gripping, on the edge of your ass page-turner! Simon has written a maddening, hallucinatory tapestry of apocalyptic history, spanning millenniums. Through barbaric violence, ignorance & deep devotion, it seems humanity has always been trying to conjure some version of the end times, a grass is always greener when it's soaked in the blood of martyrs and revolutionaries idea, that we just can't get enough of.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews