Redden uses a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the transcultural phenomenon of the devil in early modern Peru. He demonstrates that the interaction between the Christian and the Andean worlds was far more complex than any interpretation that posits a clear dichotomy between conversion and resistance would suggest. The study analyses historical sources such as missionary letters, inquisitorial trials, and chronicles written by commentators from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; it also draws on theology, ritual and liturgy, as well as literature, art, ethnography and anthropology in order to attempt a portrait of a communal society that formed an integral part of the Hispanic world between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries.

"'Redden reconstructs a rich and engaging tapestry of voices without falling into simplistic dichotomies or anachronistic categorisations. By examining theological and political debates from the perspective of individual experience, Redden's study provides invaluable insights into vice-regal Peruvian society and the process of evangelism in the Americas in general.'"