Journey into the underworld through three thousand years of visions of hell from the ancient Near East to modern AmericaFrom the Hebrew Bibles shadowy realm of Sheol to twentyfirstcentury visions of Hell on earth The Penguin Book of Hell takes us through three thousand years of eternal damnation. Along the way youll take a ferry ride with Aeneas to Hades across the river Acheron meet the Devil as imagined by a twelfthcentury Irish monk a monster with a thousand giant hands wander the nine circles of Hell in Dantes Inferno 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.