This is the definitive work on the Spanish Inquisition. Any serious research on the subject should begin here. Lea writes in that wonderful late 19th century style, so the volumes are not only filled with valuable information they are not overly tedious to read.

I felt this book was an excellent piece of non-fiction literature and offered the best inside information on the inquisition. It contains the most detailed description thus far of any book on its topic. And I strongly urge anyone interested in the inquisition to buy or at least read it. However if you have trouble reading early an 1800's style of writing, like Poe or John Swift, you should try to familiarize yourself with the style before you dive into this work. It has references to multiple books, trials, and dates, so it can easily be a legitimate source for a project or thesis. Or it could just be a gift for an enthusiast. A paperback would be the most logical choice since some of the hardback three book sets can cost up to $. I hope this review will cause you to read this great work.

This book is a well - researched account of the end of Muslim rule in Spain and the subsequent attempts at the conversion and expulsion of Jews and Muslims from the Catholic Empire of Spain.

It describes the harrassment and forcible expulsion of the jews in 1492 and goes into great detail about the subsequent forcible conversion of the Muslims left behind. The motivations, workings and consequences of the forcible baptisms and subsequent inquisition are also discussed.

Although the author has an obviously christian bent in his opinion of Islam and muslim customs (he even goes as far as giving alternative methods of conversion), he uses primary sources for his research and has provided extensive quotes of the correspondence of the major players involved in this saga until the final expulsion of the Muslims in the early 1600s. He also addresses the economic and social implications of the expulsion although that section has probably recieved more attention from other historians.

I gave this book 5 stars because even though the author is biased in his treatment of muslim customs and passes on a little inquisition propaganda without checking the facts, there is a wealth of "straight from the horses' mouth" information in this book and he is sufficiently critical of the violent methods of the inquisition even if medieval church propaganda about Islam has gotten to him a bit. That and his examination of how the inquisition's finances were tied to the fate of their victims and how the various institutions (papacy, fuedals, episcopy, royalty etc.) involved jealously guarded and tried to expand their share of the property confiscated from the Muslims is just priceless. It puts into perspective all the reasons for this intense violence among people who for eight centuries before catholic rule had lived together peacefully, achieving a standard of living and level of tolerance unparalleled in the medieval world, except perhaps in some cities of the early and middle periods of the Ottoman Empire.

This is a great book for someone interested in the role of torture in medieval european law and society. It is not for the torture junkies out there - there are no loving pictures of paraphenalia with tittilating "Oh, how horible" captions. But there is a great deal of data, insight and analysis who the reader interested how the medieval mind perceived torture.

The book forms a trilogy with Lea's other medieval judicial histories of the ordeal and the duel.

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in medieval law and its social underpinnings, rather dry for anyone else.