|
|
Article: The Devil gets a life - and it's coming to your bookshop
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- March 10, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
AS A child, Peter Stanford thought that if he went into a
tunnel he might meet the Devil, who, of course, lives underground.
This made train travel alarming, and even at 18 he found the London
Tube unnerving. At 34, however, Stanford has overcome his anxiety
sufficiently to have spent two years closeted with Satan in order
to write his biography.
The resulting book, like the man, is an engaging mixture of
liberal scepticism scarred by belief. Stanford thinks the Devil is
"one of the best ideas Christianity ever came up with", a
copywriter's dream-motif in the Church's campaign for brand
leadership. "The Church rose ruthlessly - I know we're supposed to
believe the holy spirit did it, but ...