That the French Revolution was planned and executed by secret societies is the thesis of this extraordinary series, perhaps the first in modern times to postulate that an occult cabal of malignant men were responsible for historical events that have changed and shaped our world. An indignant Augustin Barruel identifies three main aspects of the conspiracy, each intended to knock down a pillar of the ancient rgime. This first of four volumes, focusses on the conspirators' effort to destroy every altar of Christianity. Unveiled are the principal actors of the conspiracy, their means and methods, their adepts and protectors. The author's accusing finger points firmly at Voltaire, d'Alembert, Diderot, Condorcet, and the Prussian king, Frederick II; and it is with their own correspondence that he builds his case, for it paints scandalously unflattering portraits of the authors. Beneath their fine and elegant rhetoric are herein exposed the fanatical hatred, treacherous duplicity, and mad arrogance of this clique, who, on the face of it, were they to be judged solely on their moral qualities, would be unworthy of veneration or esteem. The passage of time, the lasting fame of these literary figures, and the enduring legacy of the Revolution that set the Abb's pen in motion, have made of this an iconoclastic work.