A handsome, profusely illustrated treatise on the Papal and national inquisitions. It is not a chronological survey, although it does cover the period prior to the institution of the Papal Inquisition during the time of Innocent III through the 17th century. The topical focus of the book is on the role of the Inquisition during the counter-reformation; on those activities that were supposed to bring about a unity of religious belief. Although it does describe the procedures of the inquisitorial process, including torture the book does not dwell, as do the classic 19th century historians, on this aspect of the institution. The authors do devote a chapter to the inquisition as an instrument of the Spanish state, but one gets the idea that national exploitation of the institution was an anomaly. Finally, the inquisition as a means of achieving religious unity is compared against other initiatives, generally stemming from the Council of Trent--establishment of seminaries to ensure an educated priesthood, development of catechisms and Sunday schools to bring religious education to the laity.
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