Which C.S. Lewis book features the demon Screwtape writing advice to Wormwood?

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The Screwtape Letters features the demon Screwtape writing advice to Wormwood.

C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters was published in book form in 1942. It is presented as a series of fictional letters from Screwtape, an experienced demon, to Wormwood, a junior tempter assigned to influence a human being. The unusual viewpoint lets Lewis satirize temptation by showing demonic bureaucracy and distorted moral reasoning from the inside.

Lewis first published the letters individually in the Anglican newspaper The Guardian. The series was written during the Second World War, when Lewis was also giving talks that later became Mere Christianity. The book quickly became one of his most popular works and remains a frequently cited example of Christian apologetic fiction.

A common mistake is to call Screwtape the human protagonist. He is the senior demon and letter writer, while Wormwood is his inexperienced nephew and correspondent. The book does not identify the human patient by name, keeping attention on recurring habits such as distraction, pride, resentment, and self-deception.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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