This study focuses on the narrative form which figured prominently in Sciascia's literary production in the 1970s and 1980s, that is, inchiesta, the non-fiction investigative essay, based principally on Manzoni's Storia della colonna infame [The Column of Infamy]. In his inchieste Sciascia investigates episodes in history, from the time of the Inquisition through to his own contemporary times, where intolerance and injustice outmatch human weakness and fear. This study considers Sciascia's commingling of detective and investigative writing, and his attempts at historiography. One striking feature of his narrative technique is his reliance on literature to interpret the past.