Book launch: Ed Simon, Devil’s Contract. The History of the Faustian Bargain
,  (Melville House Publishing, 2024). With Ed Simon in conversation with Mark Lilla.

Register here

“Marlowe staged Dr. Faustus at the very beginning of what is increasingly being called the Anthropocene, the geological epoch in which humanity was finally able to impose its will upon the earth. There are costs to any such contract, as the wisdom of the legend has it, so that it’s worth considering after five centuries of human domination of the planet that we might now be facing our own collective appointment at Deptford. We seem to finally be facing the final act, the apocalyptic tenor of our times, from climate change to nuclear brinkmanship making the continued survival of humanity an open question, our sad predicament the result of hubris, and greed, and vainglory. It may be appropriate to rechristen this age the Faustocene. Because whether or not the Devil is real, his effects in the world are.”

A fascinating and accessible narrative of the Faustian bargain throughout the ages, Devil’s Contract juxtaposes humanity’s choices with the history of the Devil and suggests how we arrived where we are today. 

From ancient times to the modern world, the idea of the Faustian bargain — the exchange of one’s soul in return for untold riches and power — has exerted a magnetic pull upon our collective imaginations.

Scholar Ed Simon takes us on a historical tour of the Faustian bargain, from biblical themes to bluesman Robert Johnson, and illustrates how the instinct for sacrificing our principles in exchange for power models all kinds of social ills, from colonialism to nuclear warfare, and even social media, climate change, and AI. In doing so, Simon conveys just how much the Faustian bargain shows us about power and evil … and about ourselves.

Ed Simon iis the Public Humanities Special Faculty in the English Department of Carnegie Mellon University and editor in chief of Belt Magazine. A staff writer for the Millions, his essays and criticism have appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Paris Review Daily, the New Republic, and the Washington Post. 

Mark Lilla is Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books.  Among his books are The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics and the forthcoming Ignorance and Bliss: On Wanting Not to Know.

Book launch. The Renegade by Arial Toaff, CPL Editions, 2024 translated by Cristina Popple

Historian Ariel Toaff’s debut novel, first published in Italian by Neri Pozza in 2021, is now available in English. A refreshing, complex take on the historical novel, the narrative tracks the life and death of David Ajash, an Italian rabbi and kabbalist of Algerian origin.

In 1840, a young boy makes a chilling discovery – Ajash’s lifeless body under an olive tree. The mysterious circumstances of the rabbi’s death raise haunting questions – was it suicide or homicide? Prepare to be enthralled as this gripping literary debut unravels the story in reverse, starting from this gripping scene.

Historian Ariel Toaff’s debut novel, first published in Italian by Neri Pozza in 2021, is now available in English. A refreshing, complex take on the historical novel, the narrative tracks the life and death of David Ajash, an Italian rabbi and kabbalist of Algerian origin.

In 1840, a young boy made a chilling discovery – Ajash’s lifeless body under an olive tree. The mysterious circumstances of the rabbi’s death raise haunting questions – was it suicide or homicide? Prepare to be enthralled as this gripping literary debut unravels the story in reverse, starting from this gripping scene.

More than a fictionalized biography, The Renegade seamlessly merges historical questions and hypotheses into the fabric of a work of literary fiction. It vividly portrays the Jewish Nation of Livorno in vivid brushstrokes, bringing to life the staggering vitality of its heyday: Hebrew printing, philosophical debates, and sea trade, alongside the food, scents, brothels, intrigue, and shifting alliances that accompany a golden age. It is also a meditation on acceptance and rejection and of painfully unsolved conflicts between a father and a son.

The novel begins with a powerful quote from David Ajash: “My descent into hell was already at a good point. Fate was offering me another chance.” This quote sets the tone for the novel, hinting at the internal struggles and the journey of redemption that the protagonist,  will embark on.

About the author

Ariel Toaff is a rabbi and a historian. Born in Ancona, Italy, he lives in Tel Aviv, where he is professor emeritus of Medieval and Renaissance History at the Bar-Ilan University. He came to international prominence in 2007 with the publication of his controversial Pasque Di Sangue (Blood Passovers, Gyan Books Hong Kong, 2007.) Among his many works: The Jews in Medieval Assisi 1305-1487: A social and economic history of a small Jewish community (1979); The Jews in Umbria, 3 vols., Leiden, E.J.Brill, 1993-94; Love, Work, and Death. Jewish Life in Medieval Umbria, The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 1996); Jewish Monsters. The Jewish Imaginary from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Era, 1996, of which a new and expanded edition is forthcoming); and Eating Jewish style. Jewish Cooking in Italy from the Renaissance to the Modern Age, 2000.

On the occasion of the publication of
Mauro Canali, The Matteotti Murder and Mussolini, The Anatomy of a Fascist Crime
(2024, Palgrave Macmillan)

The author in conversation with
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, NYU
Stanislao Pugliese, Hofstra University

In ENGLISH

This panel will discuss the Fascist murder of Socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti, on the occasion of the publication in English of historian Mauro Canali’s award-winning study about the crime, its coverup, and the circumstances that led to the declaration of the first Fascist dictatorship.

About the book
This much-awarded work by one of Italy’s most esteemed historians of fascism, Mauro Canali, is now available in English translation. Based on a wealth of previously unavailable judicial and archival material, it sheds light on how fascism exercised power through violence and corruption from the very beginning. The book reveals the motives that led Mussolini to order the kidnapping and murder of Socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti in 1924, a turning point in Mussolini’s grasp of total power in Italy. Canali further explores the corrupt dealings between the Mussolini family and the American Sinclair Oil Company that Matteotti had intended to denounce in the Italian parliament the day after his death.

Image: Giacomo Matteotti’s funeral (Archivio Rcs/A. Bruni)

The Matteotti murder, 1924-2014

How do we understand the past? How do we read letters our grandparents wrote? How do we understand truth in our exploration of the life of people who are close to us and yet far removed in time and space? Film maker David Modigliani ventured on a journey sparked by his grandparents’ correspondence during Fascism and World War II. The result is a multi-installment history podcast open to all. Listen to the story and join us for a conversation with the director!  https://www.packonebagshow.com/

This Tribeca-winning podcast series tells the epic true story of an Italian family, split apart by love, fascism and war. Through shocking discoveries – and Stanley Tucci’s artistry – an enthralling personal history comes to life.

When documentarian David Modigliani was a kid, his grandfather, Franco, won the Nobel
Prize. But, David’s always been more fascinated by the love story that made it possible — his grandparents’ romance on the run from Fascist Italy. When he digs into their story, he uncovers a darker side to their fairytale escape: a brother left behind to face the Nazi occupation – and startling personal connections between his family and Benito Mussolini.

In PACK ONE BAG, he returns to Italy to investigate his family’s past, carrying a pressing question: if Fascism takes over your country, do you stay or do you try to flee? And what happens if you can’t?

On the ground, David discovers his family’s war experience through the voices of cousins who survived the Nazi occupation of Rome as young children, and reconciles surprising truths about his grandparents’ story through conversations with those who knew them best, including former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Along the way, he discovers troves of secret Fascist spy documents, personal diaries, blocked bank accounts — and a love story of his own. Now, he brings it all to life with the help of Signore Stanley Tucci.

The podcast’s first episode won the Jury Award for Nonfiction Audio at the Tribeca
Festival in 2023, where the Jury cited its “unexpectedly moving narrative that blends the personal, political and comical” as it takes listeners “on a journey across generations and continents.”

A production of Live Action Projects in association with Gilded Audio, with sales and
distribution by Lemonada Media.

ABOUT DAVID MODIGLIANI
David Modigliani is an award-winning documentarian with a unique knack for capturing the intimate human experience of politics. His 2019 film Running with Beto, a behind-the-scenes portrait of then-U.S. Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke, won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at SXSW before premiering on HBO. His feature documentaries for Hulu, Netflix and PBS include Crawford, 61 Bullets and Ready or Not. David holds a BA from Harvard College and an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. He’s a founding member of the Texas Playboys Baseball Club, leaders of the #sandlotrevolution.

In the Financial Times:
https://www.ft.com/content/6b56dee6-6426-4d9c-9931-a3b36ec2e1c3