It is probably difficult to find a more controversial personality than Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556). The founder of the Jesuit order, an organization that had political influence throughout the world and is still involved in major transactions and events, living by the unspoken slogan “The end justifies the means”—and a saint. A key figure of the Counter-Reformation, the man who created the papal secret police, and the dreamer knight who became the prototype of Don Quixote. The author of the book tried to impartially approach the biography of the man who built a powerful apparatus for the defense of tradition almost 500 years ago, analyze his advantages and disadvantages, as well as character traits that helped Loyola take its place in history.

[Adapted for AlReader]