The Reformation: A History (Modern Library Chronicles)
"The Reformation was awash with words," begins the third chapter of this book. "The historian who tries to catch its essence finds his net breaking under the weight of words." Although referring specifically to the truly jaw-dropping literary output of Martin Luther himself, given the primacy granted the Word in Lutheran doctrine, and the key role the printing press played in amplifying Protestantism, Collinson could well have been referring to the ocean of secondary literature on the turbulent religiosity of Europe's long sixteenth century. Yet Cambridge professor Collinson's brief and pithy history navigates smoothly through messy, if fashionable, debates (What is essential Protestantism? Reformation or Reformations? Catholic Reformation or Counter-Reformation? Capital R or not? and so on), and, in almost 300 pages, eloquently argues that the Reformation was indeed the watershed moment it has been mythologized to be--in many ways the inauguration of the modern world. In keeping with the other titles in his publisher's Modern Library Chronicles series, Collinson's elegant introduction is both erudite and highly accessible.Brendan DriscollCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved