Satan’s Invisible World Displayed

About this book

The Satan of W. T. Stead's title is no horned visitor from the underworld. He finds his invisible kingdom in New York, among political bosses, compromised policemen and institutions that fail the people they claim to serve.

Stead's investigation of Tammany Hall and municipal corruption describes a city whose outward grandeur concealed a traffic in influence. The Statue of Liberty becomes a pointed contrast to the conditions he reports. His methods and judgments belong to combative late-Victorian journalism, and the force of the book comes from his indignation at how easily public authority could be bought.