The divine vengeance wreaked on the city of Sodom is one of the most enduring and influential myths of all time. Michael Arditti's monumental work explores its creation, dissemination, and application in five key historical epochs.

The characters range from exiled Jews and temple prostitutes in Nebuchadrezzar's Babylon to guildsmen putting on a mystery play in medieval York; from Sandro Botticelli frescoing a courtroom in Renaissance Florence to a Victorian canon escorted by the Bedouin around the Dead Sea; and a Hollywood star, afflicted by AIDS, filming a biblical epic on the destruction of Sodom.