George W. Bush calls them an "alternative set of procedures": forcing victims to stand for forty hours; depriving them of sleep for weeks on end; and strapping prisoners to inclined boards, then flooding their mouths with water. These techniques are torture, and they are legal in the United States.

Michael Otterman reveals the long history of U.S. torture. He shows how these procedures became standard practice in today's war on terror. Initially, the CIA based their techniques on the tactics of their enemies, the Nazis, Soviets, and Chinese. Billions of dollars were spent studying,...