<i>Evil: A History in Modern French Literature and Thought</i> offers a rich study of French thought on evil in its development over almost two centuries. Catani succeeds in the ambitious task of placing in dialogue with one another upwards of forty key thinkers in order to establish a series of significant shifts in understanding evil that will greatly benefit scholars of intellectual history.

- Scott M. Powers, University of Mary Washington, H-France Review

With engaging prose, Damian Catani pays close attention to linguistic choices— his own and those of the authors he studies, as they attempt to find and forge a language capable of representing evil. Other strengths include Catani’s mastery of a broad corpus of literary and theoretical works, as well as <i>Evil’s</i> compelling overarching narrative, which propels the reader forward and regularly underscores connections among chapters and disparate authors and periods. This valuable contribution to the field will appeal to scholars of intellectual history and modern French literature, in addition to readers interested in the public debate surrounding recent (counter)terrorist actions and rhetoric.

- Erin Tremblay Ponnou- Delaffon, Illinois State University, French Forum