The History of Caliph Vathek

by William Beckford

"The History of Caliph Vathek" by William Beckford is a Gothic novel composed in French beginning in 1782 and first published in English in 1786. The story follows Vathek, a depraved and tyrannical caliph with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, who encounters a mysterious stranger promising magical treasures and access to forbidden power. Seduced by promises of ultimate knowledge and the keys to the Palace of Underground Fire, Vathek makes a dark pact that demands terrible sacrifices and leads him down a path of increasingly heinous acts, rejecting salvation at every turn.