In 1492, seeking to consolidate their power and free themselves from the Vatican, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain turned to the Dominican priest Tomas de Torquemada, who proposed an Inquisition. Following the defeat of the Moors of Granada, tens of thousands of Muslims were given the choice between converting to Christianity or facing death or banishment. James Reston's compelling narrative brings all of the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition into a terrifying brutal focus.

The mentality of Spain's Inquisitors has fascinated people for centuries. Yet remarkably little has been written about these individuals, who together condemned thousands of people to degradation, imprisonment and death. John Edwards, a renowned expert on the Spanish Inquisition, investigates the Inquisitors-General, both as personalities - psychopaths to soulless bureaucrats - and as actors in the turbulent history of Spain between 1480, when the Inquisition started work, and its final abolition in 1834. The Inquisitors is the story of extraordinary religious personalities, and a history of Spain at a deep psychological level.