Jonathan Kirsch is the best-selling author of more than a dozen books, including A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization; The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible; and God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism. Kirsch is also the book editor of The Jewish Journal, a longtime book reviewer for the Los Angeles Times, a broadcaster for NPR affiliate KCRW-FM, an adjunct professor at New York University, and an attorney specializing in publishing law and intellectual property. His latest book is The Grand Inquisitor’s Manual: A History of Terror in the Name of God.