The Inquisition

The story of the inquisition is one of suffering and fear. In "The Inquisition", Bachrach presents a short, concise overview of the infamous system from its foundings to its decline. The book is very readable and examines the inquisitorial judicial system, torture, and executions. The book mentions some of the more famous vicims such as Jeanne de Arc, Savanarola, and Galileo. Bachrach also describes some of the groups targeted by the inquisition such as Jews, Cathars, Waldensias, and Protestants(makes me glad I didn't live in the sixteenth century as I am one). "The Inquisition" contains numerous illustrations. Remember, this is not an extensive work on the inquisition, but is a good overview for anyone who just wants some basic details on the infamous legal system. While I think the book is quite good, I feel there were a number of flaws. The author considerably overestimated the number of accused witches executed in Europe. There were not hundreds of thousands of women executed; the probable total was around 40-60 thousand and a fair minority were men (Protestant controlled regions executed many of the witches, so the inquisition can only be blamed for part of the number I listed). As to the statistics I listed, I have seen a list of calculations on Wikipedia showing the estimates of various researchers and I took the more modern ones. Also, while Bachrach mentions The Council of Blood persecuting Protestants in the Netherlands, I don't believe she mentions the Anabaptists; proportionantly they suffered horribly at the inquistion's hands. Overall though, I think this is a good, concise work on the inquisition especially suited to younger readers interested in history.