A harrowing collection of interviews and articles from a well known democracy activist, illustrating the shocking increase of the use of torture in democracies. Focusing on the history, psychology and current state of torture in the US as well as ideas about prison abolition, anarchism and the role of the media in contemporary society. The little discussed use of torture by the authorities in supposedly democratic states is exposed in this dark and informative text which exposes human rights abuses and thus creates the impetus for change by contributing to the fight for democracy.