This book analyses the 'waste versus profit' concept (as propounded by the British author Samuel Smiles and which found many supporters in mid-nineteenth century Spain) in the four novels of the "Torquemada series", by Benito Perez Galdos ("Torquemada en la hoguera" [1889], "Torquemada en la cruz" [1893], "Torquemada en el purgatorio" [1894] and "Torquemada y San Pedro" [1895]) within the context of the political economy and contemporary socio-cultural and medical debates. It investigates the extent to which notions of profit, efficiency and utility inform the "Torquemada" series by being juxtaposed with contemporary ideas on economic waste, inefficiency and loss, providing new insights into and a better understanding of the series.