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by Patrick Collinson (Author)
"No revolution however drastic has ever involved a total repudiation of what came before it."
The religious reformations of the sixteenth century were the crucible of modern Western civilization, profoundly reshaping the identity of Europe's emerging nation-states. In The Reformation, one of the preeminent historians of the period, Patrick Collinson, offers a concise yet thorough overview of the drastic ecumenical revolution of the late medieval and Renaissance eras. In looking at the sum effect of such disparate elements as the humanist philosophy of Desiderius Erasmus and the impact on civilization of movable-type printing and "vulgate" scriptures, or in defining the differences between the evangelical (Lutheran) and reformed (Calvinist) churches, Collinson makes clear how the battles for mens' lives were often hatched in the battles for mens' souls.
Author Biography
Patrick Collinson is Regius Professor of Modern History, Emeritus, Cambridge. A renowned scholar of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, his books include The Elizabethan Puritan Movement, The Religion of Protestants, and (as editor) The Sixteenth Century (Short Oxford History of The British Isles). He is a fellow of the British Academy and holds the CBE. He lives in Derbyshire and Cambridge.
