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52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For Book-Lovers, Historians & Theologians, January 18, 2003
This review is from: Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World (Hardcover)
This is the story of a man and his book. The man is Michael Servetus. He was a brilliant young Spaniard born into a world of religious upheaval and burgeoning science. Though he would become a well-respected physician who was the first (even before Harvey) to discover pulmonary circulation, he ran into trouble when he passionately espoused anti-Trinitarian beliefs--beliefs deemed heresy not only by the Roman Catholic Church but by important Protestant strongholds as well. The book is Christianismi Restituto. It was in this book that Servetus argued his unitarian stand and put forth his idea of pulmonary circulation. What was believed to be the last known copy of this book was chained to Servetus' leg as he was burned at the stake in Geneva in 1553. Of course, the book did survive; otherwise, there would be no story to tell and Servetus would be lost to history. In fact, as we learn through the pages of this wonderful book by the Goldstones, three copies of the book survived and are now extremely valuable. As a book collector, the story of the provenance of the three surviving copies is fascinating in itself. But there is much more of interest here than the story of a book. Much along the lines of the trend started by Dava Sobel in Longitude, the Goldstones tell the story of a much forgotten but most important moment in history. Amid the background of the development of printing and the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation, we learn of a man who made a huge scientific discovery that was basically forgotten for most of a century and re-discovered by the man who is usually credited with the discovery (Harvey). But, more importantly, we learn of a man who is swept up in the spirit of Protestantism and yet is destroyed by the very forces he helped to create. In fact, the story of the conflict between Servetus and Calvin is the most fascinating part of this book. In a world where the word "Inquisition" is a staple of criticism against the Roman Catholic church, it is important to be reminded that Protestant churches were often quick to burn those they considered heretics as well. Which makes it even more ironic that one of the three original surviving copies of this heretical book is Calvin's personal copy. All in all, this is a fascinating book. It is a wonderful history not only of a person but also of an era of upheaval and intellectual ferment. Anyone interested in book collecting, theology or Renaissance history will enjoy this book.
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40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A History of A Scholar, His Book, And Book Learning, January 5, 2003
This review is from: Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World (Hardcover)
A book can be a dangerous thing. Ask Salman Rushdie. While it is true that most of western society has a heritage of press freedom, and such a concept has not yet become part of all societies, we did not get to it easily. In the United States, one can publish whatever one wants about religious ideas, and no legal charge of blasphemy can result; in no small part, this is due to the fate of Michael Servetus, who was burned at the stake for writing about unacceptable religious ideas in 1553. He became a hero for such lights as Voltaire and Jefferson, and a foundation for the Unitarian Church. His story is vigorously told in Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World (Broadway Books) by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone. The Goldstones, who are book collectors, have made this a story of Servetus's physical books and of the history of publishing, as well as a history of intellectual progress against oppressive religious power. The "fatal heresy" in the title comes from Servetus's ideas that were not only anathema to the Catholic church, but were also detested by the Protestants that had adopted doctrine from the Catholics. Servetus, for instance, abhorred the idea of the Trinity, and being a supremely knowledgeable biblical scholar, knew there was nothing in the Bible about any such Trinity. He also had biblical arguments against original sin, childhood baptism, virgin birth, and predestination. Knowing his Bible, however, didn't save him. He had to hide from both Catholics and Protestants, and under an assumed identity, became a doctor. In this role, he made discoveries about the circulation of the blood that predated Harvey's by seventy-five years. John Calvin eventually colluded with the Catholic Church to catch Servetus, there was a show trial, and a horrid burning at the stake. Calvin also thought that all of Servetus's books had been burned, but three survived. He also survived as an inspiration for the Unitarian Church. The Goldstones have written a spellbinding biography of an important thinker. There are digressions here that always circle back to the main theme; an amazing description of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre is here, and appearances are made by many kings and queens, Newton, Liebnitz, Jonathan Swift, Ignatius Loyola, Emerson, William Osler, and many more. Reflecting their interest in book collecting, the Goldstones, starting with Gutenberg and winding up with the stories of the three remaining copies of Servetus's book, have also given a rousing history of books in western intellectual growth.
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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Worth reading, despite some flaws, October 26, 2004
The Goldstone's write in the prologue that, Out of the Flames, is, "...the story of one book - Michael Servtus's book..." and even the title proclaims it is, "The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, A Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World." But I think the Epilogue contains a better characterization of what this book aspired to, and sometimes achieved: "But there were also those, no less brilliant, who did not succeed, whose ideas could not take root before they were crushed. Their vision and passion were no less intense, and what they had to say no less vital to the human spirit. It was only circumstance that separated them from the others [Newton, Shakespeare, etc.]."
Navigating your way through the important events of any period in history can be tricky. And the Goldstone's have a lot of ground to cover in a relatively short book - Servetus' story encompasses much of the period generally labeled the Reformation. Only those events and characters in some way related to the story of Servetus', Christianismi Restitutio are included in Out of the Flames. But even this narrowing still leaves a lot of interacting events and characters to write about in only a few hundred pages. The author's do an admirable job in their selections. The narrative does seem to jump around, but the Goldstone's rarely take a long time in bringing it back to Servetus and the Christianismi Restitutio. And, at times, their journey through the Reformation landscape is marred by oversimplification and the occasional twentieth century viewpoint ascribed to sixteenth century characters. Take the Goldstone's brief treatment of the origins of the printing press. Not enough documentary evidence exists to assign motives to any party or even to really know what Gutenberg was up to during significant portions of the experimental phase - Gutenberg periodically "disappears" for stretches of several years. Yet their coverage suggests historians have a complete, concrete picture of Gutenberg and portrays Fust and Schoeffer as greedy men whose sole aim was to steal the invention of someone else for their own profit. Not all of the events covered are oversimplified in this manner. But enough are that it must, in the end, detract somewhat from the story as history.
Out of the Flames is not solely a biography of Michael Servetus. Perhaps half, maybe less, of the book is actually devoted to his life. The Goldstone's spend time on other important sixteenth century characters; John Calvin, Francis I, Marguerite d'Angouleme to mention a few. The "climax" of the book comes when the story gets to Servetus' trial in Geneva - in many respects a clash between two titanic intellects, Calvin's and Servetus'. Here the Goldstone's clearly have their favorite. Calvin comes across as a rabid animal, foaming at the mouth in his desire to execute Servetus at the first possible moment. Granted, Calvin can't really be excused for his actions, but the irony of arguably one of the most effective reformers of the sixteenth century trying to suppress a dissenting opinion is often lost in that bias toward Servetus which softens his own faults (a towering ego and often intemperate, abusive language) and magnifies Calvin's. Such bias doesn't mean that the story the Goldstone's tell isn't worth reading. But it is something readers should be aware of - if for no other reason than to keep some perspective.
In addition to the thread of antitrinitarianism (the heresy that got Servetus burned at the stake) the story of Michael Servetus is about a scientific discovery that lay buried in the primarily theological, Christianismi Restitutio. Servetus was trained in the medical profession, though theology seems to have been of greater interest to him. As an assistant to Vesalius, one of the great anatomists of the sixteenth century, Servetus discovered the role of the heart in circulating blood throughout the body. Even Vesalius, who got so much else right, missed it. But Servetus never mentioned it until much later, and only in passing. Because the Christianismi Restitutio was suppressed for its heretical ideas, William Harvey would receive credit for his independent discovery several decades later. Here is the circumstance the Goldstone's talk about in the Epilogue that separated Servetus from celebrated men like Newton and even Harvey.
The last few chapters of the book are devoted to tracing ownership of the remaining copies of Christianismi Restitutio up to the present. Here the irony that one of those copies happened to be Calvin's own is not lost; it was Calvin who ordered that all copies of the book be burned to ensure that Servetus' heresy would not spread.
Despite the faults I have noted, I enjoyed reading Out of the Flames. The bibliography at the end of the book contains some useful entries for biographies of Charles V and Francis I.
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