Cloven Country

According to legend, the English landscape—so calm on the surface—is really the Devil's work. Cloven Country tells of rocks hurled into place and valleys carved out by infernal labour. The Devil's hideous strength laid down great roads in one night and left scars everywhere as the hard stone melted like wax under those burning feet.

With roots in medieval folklore, this is not the Satan of prayer, but a clumsy ogre, easily fooled by humankind. When a smart cobbler or cunning young wife outwitted him, they struck a blow for the underdog. Only the wicked squire and grasping merchant were beyond redemption, carried off by a black huntsman in the storm.

Harte has woven together a rich and wildly entertaining romp through the Devil-pocked English landscape. It is hard not to feel more than a little sympathy, given the number of times the Devil seems to have been outwitted by all and sundry, but then he must be content in the knowledge that his efforts to disrupt have led to him being memorialised across the UK, in the form of dykes, tors, bridges, cauldrons and punch bowls. - Simon Costin, director of the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic and founder of the Museum of British Folklore