The Reign of Satan
Benjamin Gastineau
The Reign of Satan, written by the radical Benjamin Gastineau and originally published in 1848, the same year the author was convicted for writing for Proudhon’s journal La Voix du Peuple, is a true page-turner, a fast-moving melodrama with all the trappings of the genre.
The story, which centers around two orphans, Maurice and Juliette, and their contentions with various evil influences, most especially that of the satanic Baron Barcas, is one in which sentiment vies with base instincts, and sensibility with the lust for gain.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells, these three novels will delight fans of period fiction and weird tales alike.
About the Author
Benjamin Gastineau was a French journalist, writer and historian. A typographer, he acquired Proudhon’s ideas and became a journalist for La Voix du Peuple, which earned him a sentence in 1848. As an opponent of the Bonapartist regime, he was expelled to Algeria in 1852. Returning to France, he became editor-in-chief of the Guetteur de Saint-Quentin and moved to the provinces. On February 24, 1858 , he was arrested again and transferred to Paris . His newspaper is banned because it “excites the working class against the established order,” Gastineau is deported back to Algeria. Amnestied in 1859, he continued his activities as a journalist in the provinces. At the fall of the Second Empire , he moved to Paris, where he joined the Commune and became involved in newspapers and revolutionary clubs. On May 3, 1871, he was appointed Inspector of Municipal Libraries and Director of the Mazarine Library . At the fall of the Commune, he escaped repression by fleeing to Belgium . He returned to France after the amnesty of 1880. He published a large number of novels of light literature and was a member of the Society of the men of letters.
Paperback, 176 pages. Release date: April 14, 2021
ISBN-13: 978-1-64525-067-8
Price: US$15.00
Hardcover, 178 pages. Limited edition to 70 copies
Price: US$29.00