God's Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World
by Cullen Murphy
Why You'll Love This
The Inquisition's last execution was in 1826 — and Murphy argues its machinery never really stopped.
- Great if you want: history that exposes uncomfortable parallels between past and present power
- The experience: measured and cerebral, with dry wit keeping the darkness bearable
- The writing: Murphy blends archival precision with essayistic ease — scholarly but never stiff
- Skip if: you want narrative history — this is more analytical argument than story
About This Book
The Inquisition didn't end when most people assume it did. Cullen Murphy's God's Jury makes the unsettling case that the machinery of institutional persecution — the surveillance, the coerced confessions, the bureaucratic dehumanization — didn't die with the medieval Church. It evolved, modernized, and spread into corners of secular life we recognize all too well. Murphy traces this history from the thirteenth century to Guantánamo, from Torquemada to the national-security state, arguing that the Inquisition's true legacy isn't theological but organizational. The stakes, as he frames them, are immediate: understanding how institutions justify the crushing of dissent is not an academic exercise.
What makes God's Jury a genuinely rewarding read is Murphy's refusal to be grim about grim material. His prose is clear-eyed and frequently sharp, balancing scholarly rigor with a dry wit that keeps the pages turning without ever trivializing the subject. He moves fluidly between archival detail and sweeping historical argument, connecting episodes that seem distant until Murphy places them side by side and the resemblance becomes impossible to ignore. It's the kind of history writing that changes how you look at institutions long after you've closed the book.