Philip C Almond is Professor Emeritus of Religion and Deputy Director of the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities at the University of Queensland. His previous books include The Witches of Warboys: An Extraordinary Story of Sorcery, Sadism and Satanic Possession (2007), England's First Demonologist: Reginald Scot and 'The Discoverie of Witchcraft' (2011, paperback 2014), The Lancashire Witches: A Chronicle of Sorcery and Death on Pendle Hill (2012), The Devil: A New Biography (2014, cited as one of the Independent's 'Books of the Year: Best Books on Religion', paperback 2015) and Afterlife: A History of Life after Death (2016), all published by I.B.Tauris.
