From the moment I saw the cover, I was hooked. I forget the name of the painting depicted on the book, but it's the one where the demons are carrying all the sinners to hell on Judgement day. Laughing demons, agonizing sinners - it caught my eye.I have always been intrigued by how the Roman Catholic Church still maintains many ideas and doctrines from the Middle Ages. I had always felt this to be a backward time period and have often wondered how anything could have endured. This book gave me insight and was very addictive for a historical account.Richard's focus was on minorities, how they were treated and why. The scary thing is that society as a whole shares many thoughts and actions with this backward era, not just the Church, especially with regard to sex. I found the relationship between virginity, rape, and homosexuality fascinating and frightening. Every time I wanted to dismiss the Middle age barbarians as that, I couldn't help to think of similar situations in our own time. I was also surprised at the hypocrisy of the era and what has survived today. Homosexuality was totally taboo among the poor yet completely accepted and encouraged among the rich.Richard did a great job. His descriptions of the times and situations that occurred are excellent. He lets the reader decide how to react to the information instead of steering you in either direction. Many of my social preconceptions were challenged. I also liked the adventure of relating modern parallels. I definitely recommend this book.