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Satan in America: The Devil We Know
Satan in America tells the story of America's complicated relationship with the devil. "New light" evangelists of the eighteenth century, enslaved African Americans, demagogic politicians, and modern American film-makers have used the devil to damn their enemies, explain the nature of evil and injustice, mount social crusades, construct a national identity, and express anxiety about matters as diverse as the threat of war to the dangers of deviant sexuality. The idea of the monstrous and the bizarre providing cultural metaphors that interact with historical change is not new. Poole takes a new tack by examining this idea in conjunction with the concerns of American religious history. The book shows that both the range and the scope of American religiousness made theological evil an especially potent symbol. Satan appears repeatedly on the political, religious, and cultural landscape of the United States, a shadow self to the sunny image of American progress and idealism.
274 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 6, 2020
“Does most of America perceive that its fascination with the fallen angel is a reflection of its own fall from innocence? A bright promise of innocence becoming corrupted by pride and lust for power is the story of both the devil and the United States.”
What I binged the most during my 2020 Spooktober marathon is apparently… drumroll… non-fiction! But not just any non-fiction: W. Scott Poole’s social history of an unusual and criminally misunderstood icon (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), horror culture (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) and the Big Man himself, Satan. But not just any old Satan: the American version of Satan – which is a rather specific and fascinating version.
As mentioned in my reviews of his other books, one thing that makes me love Poole’s work is how accessible his writing is, but also how insightful and ultimately funny he can be, even when tackling serious and often dark subject-matters. In this book, he looks at how the concept of the devil evolved through American history and how it influenced culture and politics. “(…) this study of the diabolical metaphor is a study of the failure of a society to deal seriously with the problem of evil.” And just like in his other work, Poole does not sugar-coat his thoughts and conclusions. He believes that American exceptionalism (and the resulting refusal to acknowledge any responsibilities for “bad things”) and the hyper-religious roots of it’s culture make it inevitable that a scapegoating, and therefore, demonizing, process happens in any conflict involving the nation – domestic or foreign.
He explores the history of the concept of Satan, and how myths and beliefs have made their way to America over the course of its history, and how those stories and ideas have become part of the cultural fabric of the country – from the Salem witch trials all the way to heavy metal music and late 20th century culture wars.
The language often used in American Christianity makes it clear that this religion is essentially spiritual warfare against Satan and his various minions. And frankly, this book does not paint a pretty picture of America’s spirituality – or what passes for spirituality, anyway. Statistics that indicate more Americans believe in a literal devil than in Darwinism make me, well, cringe. And that’s barely the tip of the iceberg of incredibly weird things Poole discusses in this book.
I finished reading “Satan in America” during what shall henceforth be known as election-groundhog-day, and maybe that made it even more fascinating yet dispiriting than it would have been under different circumstances. But this is a very interesting book that I would recommend to people interested in history, culture, or who want to understand that dark side of American exceptionalism a bit better.
"The devil's greatest trick is not to convince us that it does not exist. It is, instead, to convince us that he lives in our enemies, that he surrounds us, and the he must be destroyed, no matter the cost, no matter the collateral damage."
**
While I was reading this book, I was reminded of an excellent horror novel I read a couple of years ago that addresses the topics discussed by Poole. I highly recommend "The Acolyte" by Nick Cutter (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) to anyone interested in the themes found in "Satan in America".
What I binged the most during my 2020 Spooktober marathon is apparently… drumroll… non-fiction! But not just any non-fiction: W. Scott Poole’s social history of an unusual and criminally misunderstood icon (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), horror culture (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) and the Big Man himself, Satan. But not just any old Satan: the American version of Satan – which is a rather specific and fascinating version.
As mentioned in my reviews of his other books, one thing that makes me love Poole’s work is how accessible his writing is, but also how insightful and ultimately funny he can be, even when tackling serious and often dark subject-matters. In this book, he looks at how the concept of the devil evolved through American history and how it influenced culture and politics. “(…) this study of the diabolical metaphor is a study of the failure of a society to deal seriously with the problem of evil.” And just like in his other work, Poole does not sugar-coat his thoughts and conclusions. He believes that American exceptionalism (and the resulting refusal to acknowledge any responsibilities for “bad things”) and the hyper-religious roots of it’s culture make it inevitable that a scapegoating, and therefore, demonizing, process happens in any conflict involving the nation – domestic or foreign.
He explores the history of the concept of Satan, and how myths and beliefs have made their way to America over the course of its history, and how those stories and ideas have become part of the cultural fabric of the country – from the Salem witch trials all the way to heavy metal music and late 20th century culture wars.
The language often used in American Christianity makes it clear that this religion is essentially spiritual warfare against Satan and his various minions. And frankly, this book does not paint a pretty picture of America’s spirituality – or what passes for spirituality, anyway. Statistics that indicate more Americans believe in a literal devil than in Darwinism make me, well, cringe. And that’s barely the tip of the iceberg of incredibly weird things Poole discusses in this book.
I finished reading “Satan in America” during what shall henceforth be known as election-groundhog-day, and maybe that made it even more fascinating yet dispiriting than it would have been under different circumstances. But this is a very interesting book that I would recommend to people interested in history, culture, or who want to understand that dark side of American exceptionalism a bit better.
"The devil's greatest trick is not to convince us that it does not exist. It is, instead, to convince us that he lives in our enemies, that he surrounds us, and the he must be destroyed, no matter the cost, no matter the collateral damage."
**
While I was reading this book, I was reminded of an excellent horror novel I read a couple of years ago that addresses the topics discussed by Poole. I highly recommend "The Acolyte" by Nick Cutter (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) to anyone interested in the themes found in "Satan in America".
July 14, 2014
Poole's book is organized around lecture notes, I imagine. Why? Because he covers a ton of ground in very few pages all structured to support his major thesis. The thesis is interesting and well argued. Poole provides many, many examples of how America's conception and relationship to the Devil/Evil is a complex maze of nationalism, finger-pointing accusation, and a real sense of "anti" morality. American evangelicalism has always been conservative and financially manipulative, but Poole argues that it, also, managed to recode the meaning of evil. Instead of seeing evil as a facet of the fallen world, American evangelicals are pitted in "spiritual warfare."
This war language allows for all sorts of posturing (political, social, and sexual) while centering the manipulated individual into the center of a dire, personal struggle. In order to control the congregations or fill the donation coffers of the tent revivals, each person in the audience is afforded a special privilege - first to be specifically targeted by Satan, himself; second, to be able, with the power of Christ, to beat the beast.
This self-importance theology informs an influential strain that has leaked into all aspects of American culture. Poole manages to tease out the narrative structure of the Salem witch hunts. By using this structure, he convincingly shows how that narrative has replicated itself over and over targeting Satanists, Communists, and terrorists.
While I first picked this up hoping for more in-depth accounting of the Satanic Panic of the 80s, I was impressed by the scope and breadth of Poole's study.
This war language allows for all sorts of posturing (political, social, and sexual) while centering the manipulated individual into the center of a dire, personal struggle. In order to control the congregations or fill the donation coffers of the tent revivals, each person in the audience is afforded a special privilege - first to be specifically targeted by Satan, himself; second, to be able, with the power of Christ, to beat the beast.
This self-importance theology informs an influential strain that has leaked into all aspects of American culture. Poole manages to tease out the narrative structure of the Salem witch hunts. By using this structure, he convincingly shows how that narrative has replicated itself over and over targeting Satanists, Communists, and terrorists.
While I first picked this up hoping for more in-depth accounting of the Satanic Panic of the 80s, I was impressed by the scope and breadth of Poole's study.
July 6, 2021
It’s impressive how Scott Poole covers such a wide breadth in about 230 pages, but he manages to do an excellent job. Really nice balance of academic and engaging writing.
May 27, 2016
As the title indicates, this book is about the perception of the Devil in America. Poole is an insightful historian who knows how to choose interesting episodes and events to illustrate his points. Not exactly a primer on Satanism, this book will provide more than just conventional information about the prince of darkness. Naturally, I wrote further comments about it on my blog: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.
December 6, 2011
This is a chronological history of how American society has used the devil as a scapegoat, excuse, motivator, entertainment, and political tool. i would say it is very interesting and enlightening. This phantom still lurks around every corner of our culture.
February 26, 2012
Not as good as I had hoped. I was reading primarily for info on the "satanic panic" when people were seeing satanic cults everywhere and its relation to the recovered memory or false memory syndrome. The early chapters, a historical/sociological look at belief in the devil in America, we're good. This book also has a good bibliography.
January 19, 2025
Satan has been a part of America's self-image since the beginning. Our forefathers saw him in people they saw as Other. Satan became an entity to fight aggressively and, with time, became an internal enemy, too. Poole is interested in showing how this devil creates power and shapes society more than he is discussing spirituality. This is a great way to examine what people are really talking about when they announce the presence of the evil one.
November 25, 2025
disappointingly riddled with typos and basic factual errors, to the point where the extremely poorly paced final two chapters seemed entirely untrustworthy as a result, and made me trust poole's work as a whole less. samples below:
it's hannibal lecter, not lector
lucifer is dream's rival, not his brother (that's destiny, destruction, and sometimes desire)
the omen remake came out in 2006, not 2003
know better, do better
it's hannibal lecter, not lector
lucifer is dream's rival, not his brother (that's destiny, destruction, and sometimes desire)
the omen remake came out in 2006, not 2003
know better, do better
July 28, 2026
I found this to be pretty interesting although there is a lot of information being imparted. I do wish more time had been spent on the more modern era but it was interesting to learn about how Satan played such a large role in America's past. Fairly easy to read even if it's pretty academic and I found quite a few sources the author used that I kind of want to hunt down.
August 16, 2017
Well written, and I enjoyed that there was a lot of good content that was not repetative of other books on this topic.
January 21, 2019
This is one of those books I'll revisit when I'm in a better mind frame to receive it.
December 28, 2025
Wonderfully thorough and well-written, with an impeccable perspective on historiography and on history itself, as we have come to expect of Scott Poole!
July 22, 2012
Wow! Best dose of perspective out there
February 9, 2017
A bit difficult to read at times, but a really interesting book about the religious relationship with the devil that America has. It also explains a lot.
March 9, 2016
some decent parts, gets a little long near the end.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews