In 1795, a teenager discovered a mysterious circular depression in the ground on Oak Island, in Nova Scotia, Canada, and ignited rumors of buried treasure. Early excavators uncovered a clay-lined shaft containing layers of soil interspersed with wooden platforms, but when they reached a depth of ninety feet, water poured into the shaft and made further digging impossible.

Since then the mystery of Oak Island's "Money Pit" has enthralled generations of treasure hunters, including a Boston insurance salesman whose obsession ruined him; young Franklin Delano Roosevelt; and film star Errol...

How we explain the evils of the world - and the darkest parts of ourselves - has preoccupied humans throughout history. In The Devil's Best Trick, Randall Sullivan investigates historical, religious and cultural conceptions of evil, from Biblical times to European witch hunts to the devil-worshipping 'Black Mass' ceremony. He travels to Mexico to participate in the 'Hour of the Witches' - an annual ceremony in which hundreds of people congregate in the jungle south of Vera Cruz to negotiate terms with El Diablo. He takes us through the most famous exorcism in American history. And he...