Malcolm D. Evans tells the story of torture prevention under international law, setting out what is really happening in places of detention around the world. Challenging assumptions about torture’s root causes, he calls for what is needed to bring about change. Drawing on on over ten years’ experience as Chair of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, he gives a frank account of the remarkable capacities of this system, what it has achieved in practice, or not been able to achieve – and most importantly, why.