Bartholomew's Night is the climax of the brutal war between Catholics and Huguenots, a moment of truth in which every person, being a citizen of France, had to take the side of the murderers or join their victims. The streams of blood that flooded the streets of Paris divided the entire country for a long time into two irreconcilable camps, each of which considered itself right. That night the fate of the state was decided, which ultimately chose the path of violence and intolerance. Philippe Erlanger's book paints a tragic picture of this event, analyzing hour by hour the “black night” in the history of France, which became a kind of warning to descendants who are trying to resolve questions of faith with the help of the sword.