The "Fire of Tongues" is a study of the religious and social thought of the Jesuit Antonio Vieira (1608-97), one of the great preachers, writers, and missionaries of the seventeenth century. A key actor in European and Ibero-American politics of the period, Vieira argued throughout his 75 career that the Portuguese nation was destined to lead the Catholic church in its mission to convert the Jews of Europe and the non-Christian peoples of the New World. The tension between the missionary enterprise and the Portuguese imperial agenda provides The Fire of Tongues with its principal theme. The author focuses on three periods in Vieira's career. The first is his mission to Brazil (1653-61), which took place during an era marked by conflict between the Jesuit missionaries and their fellow Europeans. The latter resented the Jesuits responsibility for administering the allocation of Indian workers, and Vieira exacerbated the conflict by bringing under Jesuit control the notorious slaving expeditions the Portuguese were conducting in the backlands. After being forcibly returned to Portugal by his opponents, Vieira spent five years in the custody of the Inquisition (1663-67).