"A real work of imagination, ponderated and achieved." — Robert Louis Stevenson The son of a radical Calvinist minister conducts a crime spree that horrifies eighteenth-century Scottish society in this gripping tale of murder, madness, and demonic possession. According to Robert Wringhim, his crimes are attributable to the influence of a sinister companion, Gil-Martin — but it remains to be seen whether Gil-Martin really exists. Published anonymously in 1824, this ahead-of-its-time novel offers a haunting exploration of religious fanaticism and the power of evil. The author, Scottish poet and novelist James Hogg (1770–1835), overcame his lowly birth and lack of education to become one of the most admired writers of his day. Although his writings fell into obscurity after his death, they were rediscovered in the 1940s by André Gide and other critics. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner is Hogg's best-known and most highly acclaimed work.