Introduction -- Modern torture and its observers -- Torture and democracy -- Lights, heat, and sweat -- Whips and water -- Bathtubs -- Shock -- Magnetos -- Currents -- Singing the world electric -- Prods, tasers, and stun guns -- Stun city -- Sticks and bones -- Water, sleep, and spice -- Stress and duress -- Forced standing and other positions -- Fists and exercises -- Old and new restraints -- Noise -- Drugs and doctors -- Supply and demand for clean torture -- Does torture work? -- What the apologists say -- Why governments don't learn -- The great age of torture in modern memory.