Visions of Heaven and Hell

From the miseries of Dante's 'Inferno' to the eternal feasting and bloodletting of Valhalla, 'Visions of Heaven and Hell' deals graphically with the extraordinary beliefs which have regulated the morals of societies through the centuries.

Islamic, Buddhist, Judaic and Christian teachings have all threatened wrongdoers with the torments of a fiery hell, while visions of heaven range from the austere spirituality of St. Augustine to the erotic delights of the Muslim paradise.

Included are 125 unusual illustrations, many in full color, bringing vivid and revealing detail to ideas of eternal life. This extraordinary array of imagery, imagination and fantasy illuminates man's constant obsession with the question of reward and punishment in the hereafter.

The author, Richard Cavendish, is a well-known authority on magic, occultism and popular beliefs about the supernatural.