Freelance writer Kerrigan traces the history of the technology of torture from antiquity to the present in all parts of the globe. The different methods of inflicting pain are grouped by type (i.e. stretching, water torture, beating, mental cruelty). Kerrigan concludes with a discussion of the efforts of groups such as Amnesty International who seek to bring an end to torture. The text is accompanied throughout by bandw photographs and woodcuts depicting instruments of torture and their victims. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR