The Grand Inquisitor's Manual

"A scathing account of the Inquisition's 600-year campaign to stifle religious dissent" ( Los Angeles Times ) from a National Bestselling Author. The renowned historian and critic Jonathan Kirsch presents a sweeping history of the Inquisition and the ways in which it has served as the chief model for torture in the West to this day. Ranging from the Knights Templar to the first Protestants; from Joan of Arc to Galileo; from the Inquisition's immense power in Spain after 1492, when the secret tribunals and torture chambers were directed for the first time against Jews and Muslims, to the torture and murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent women during the Witch Craze; and to the modern war on terror—Kirsch shows us how the Inquisition stands as a universal and ineradicable reminder of how absolute power wreaks inevitable corruption. "A fine storyteller with a flair for rendering ancient tales relevant and appealing to modern audiences." — The Washington Post