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The Reformation

By: Patrick Collinson
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Phoenix
ISBN: 0753818639
ISBN-13: 9780753818633
Released: 21 Apr 2005
RRP: £6.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Short but oh, so sweet! - By: Deadletters, 28 Dec 2007
Collinson's is the best one volume entry level guide to the reformation that there is. It fairly speeds along, & Collinson is a knowledgeable, entertaining companion on the ride. He manages to take a complex subject, make it readable & enjoyable, & does it in a fraction of the page count certain other historians would rack up, & with infinitely more style & aplomb.

This is a great book, whether your using it for undergrad background or simply reading it for pleasure.
A time of great change... - By: Kurt Messick, 01 Dec 2004
As author Patrick Collinson writes, this is a book about Western Europe - a period in Western Europe's development that, when drawn on a map, rather interestingly paralllels the shape & development of the European Union community. Collinson gives attention at the start to the area of Christendom beyond the Western Church, but makes the point that the evolutionary/revolutionary pattern in the greater Orthodox world is far different from the West, & that it never experienced the kind of events that the Reformation & Counter-Reformation caused in the West.

The Reformation was not a one-time event, but an ongoing process over many centuries. The timeline Collinson provides at the start begins at 1378, the start of the Great Schism, the era of popes & antipopes, which provided some fertile ground for later Reformation in fact if not in theology & ecclesiology. This is of course 150 years prior to Martin Luther's grand pronouncements, followed quickly by John Calvin & others. Collinson's time frame continues up to the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in Britain, which finallly established the Protestant rule in Britain.

Collinson's explorations show interesting sides to this tumultuous period of history. Luther's conversion story, often retold by Luther himself, changes periodicallly into not-always-consistent versions. This is part of the tension Collinson describes, the tension between Reformation as a process & Reformation as an historical event. Collinson also develops the idea of Reformation as something not necessarily tremendously radical - Martin Luther, according to many historians quoted by Collinson, can be seen as a medieval rather than a modern man - he `...offered new answers to old questions. He asked no new ones.'

Thus, Collinson speaks of the late medieval church & its Reformation - this was something internal rather than external to the church, however much later history may want to see it in terms of external sources & forces. Collinson explores issues of language & literacy (remembering the kind of revolution that inventions such as the Gutenberg Press made available), & looks at alternate patterns the Reformation followed under different leaders & in different locations. Collinson highlights the English Reformation as a particularly special case - `exceptional in the extent to which it was contested, both at the time & ever since.' Part of the difficulties in the Anglican communion today can be directly traced to the issues & problems of authority & ecclesiology that were present during this early period. Some of the more interesting chapters include his discussion of Politics, the development of early sensibilities that later would lead to the idea of the nation-state, & Art, which includes the likes of George Herbert, Albrecht Durer, Hans Holbein, Thomas Talllis & William Byrd.

Collinson explores people, places, events, trends - he does not concentrate on one particular historical investigation, but develops various strands overalll. Collinson's final chapters traces different developments after the Reformation/Counter-Reformation period, showing how strands reached into Enlightenment, Scientific Revolution & other ages, but stops short of making definitive pronouncements about the cause & effect.

Collinson's text is lively, accessible, & interesting. It carries the movement of history well with a good amount of detail without being excessive in labouring minor points. He has a useful index & section on further readings for each chapter/subject.

A great find!

Good but not for AS History revision - By: , 22 Apr 2004
I found this book a very good read. I only read it as i thought it wouldhelp me in my AS level history course. Although it does give youbackground reading of everything you need to know for AS European history,it is not the ideal book to use as revision.