This book studies a number of Victorians who were deeply troubled by religious doubts, including Tennyson, Carlyle, J A Froude, Francis Newman, George Elliot, Colenso and Jowett. One of the book's principal concerns is to investagate the causes of their misgivings. Many Victorians blamed Darwin for unsettling their faith. In doing so, they ignored the fact that doubts about Christianity preceded the publication of "On the Origin of Species" by some eighteen hundred years. Modern scepticism has its roots in the Renaissance and Reformation and more recently in the eighteenth century Deism. Darwin marked the end of the process rather than its beginning. It is worth pointing out that the issues with which "Souls in Torment" is chiefly concerned are just as relevant today as they were to the Victorians who feature in its pages.