The Kingdom of the Wicked

The Kingdom of the Wicked is a 1985 historical novel by Anthony Burgess.

The Kingdom of the Wicked
First edition
AuthorAnthony Burgess
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreHistorical novel
PublisherHutchinson & Co
Publication date
1 September 1985
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages379 pp
ISBN0-87795-753-3
OCLC12051789
823/.914 19
LC ClassPR6052.U638 K5 1985

Like two of his earlier works, the long narrative poem Moses and the novel Man of Nazareth (together these books make up what has been referred to as his biblical or religious trilogy), Burgess wrote The Kingdom of the Wicked in part as preparation for a screenplay; in this case for the television series A.D.

Plot summary

The story of the birth of Christianity and its interaction with the Roman Empire is told largely chronologically by a narrator slowly succumbing to disease during the reign of Domitian.

The story starts where Man of Nazareth ended, immediately after the crucifixion of Jesus, and covers the work of the apostles, in particular Paul (who himself was not one of the original twelve apostles), the development of Christianity as an Abrahamic religion separate from Judaism, the Great Fire of Rome, the persecution of Christians, the destruction of the Second Temple, and the destruction of Pompeii.


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