Here is the complete story of one of history's most appalling tyrannies, first established in 1232 and destined to survive, in one form or another, into the nineteenth century. Plaidy's method is to examine the characters of those responsible for the monstrous tyranny and those who suffered because of it, and to portray it through their stories. Here are vivid pen-portraits of the Inquisitors, relentless in upholding a fanatical belief in their ability to bring men and women to salvation through physical suffering, and of their victims, forced to endure the rack, the hoist, and other torture devices because of the beliefs they held.