Devil's Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain

"Lively . . . excoriating, eloquent . . . We are all Faustians now." — James Wood, The New Yorker

A devilishly fascinating tour of the Faustian bargain through the ages, from brimstone to blues and beyond . . .

From ancient times to the modern world, the idea of the Faustian bargain—the exchange of one's soul in return for untold riches and power—has exerted a magnetic pull upon our collective imaginations.

Scholar Ed Simon takes us on a historical tour of the Faustian bargain, from the Bible to blues, and illustrates how the impulse to sacrifice our principles in exchange for power is present in all kinds of social ills, from colonialism to nuclear warfare, from social media to climate change to AI, and beyond. In doing so, Simon conveys just how much the Faustian bargain shows us about power and evil . . . and ourselves.