The Reformation Kindle Edition

This is a dense, detailed, intense examination of the Reformation. I had to read it several semesters ago for a class and it still sticks in my mind as a prime example of why historians should not write history books. They know so much about the topic at hand that they suffer from being unable to distill it all for a general audience, and get bogged down in asides and pieces of stories only to pick up those threads so much farther down the road that the reader has long forgotten where that particular thread first got pulled.

There IS some fascinating stuff in here, but this is not for the weak-hearted or casual, uncommitted reader. Pull up a chair, cancel all other social obligations, and expect to stay for at least several weeks. As a reference text, it is invaluable - there is gold in "them thare pages," and plenty of detail to understand how the Reformation began, proceeded, and influenced. But this is an academic work, not something that would appeal to a more general audience (which is why it is 4 star instead of 5).

I've just finished reading this and I already know that I'll be returning to it for reference and probably rereading sections as well. There is just so much history wrapped up in this single volume that it would be impossible to remember or understand all of it in one read.

MacCullouch does a fine job of balancing the views and actions of Catholics and all the versions of Protestants that arose from the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. The core of the argument between these two varieties of Christianity is whether the Bible should be the go-to guide (Protestant) or whether the Church's teachings are of primary importance (Catholic). Of course, like all human endeavors, religion, politics, economics, art, and personality cults all play their role in history.

This is an area of history that I've generally avoided, as my area of interest is nineteenth-century England and technology. But when I realized that I wasn't understanding some social issues because their roots lie in the Reformation, I signed up for a graduate-level Renaissance and Reformation class. MacCullouch's book is one of several on the reading list, but the only one aimed at the Reformation.

At first glance, this 708-page text (plus notes, bibliography, and index) looks overwhelming, especially if you have to read it in a short amount of time, such as in a class. But I found the professor's writing style to be very clear and it wasn't a chore to read the book. I had so many "aha!" moments when reading this book I can't begin to list them here.

Some other reviewers have complained that this single book cannot span the historical and intellectual range of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, and they're right. No single book or author could accomplish that. But what MacCullouch has done is to write a very readable single volume that introduces many of the themes of that history. He does not focus on a single individual, although some, such as Luther, were certainly very important in the history of the Reformation and are mentioned much more than once. That is to be expected, but it doesn't detract from the quality of the material, and it doesn't mean that MacCullouch never writes about anyone else. He does.

What perhaps was most helpful to me was the last chapter, which summed up some of the current-day arguments over religious beliefs, both in America and Europe, and pointed out how they are just ongoing examples of what amounts to a continuation of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. If you have any curiosity about this era or want to understand the breach between Catholicism and Protestantism, this book is an excellent first choice. Just be forewarned that, while this book is not exceedingly difficult, neither is it a "dummies" book, and you should come to it knowing a little history in order to get the most out of it. Don't be put off by the sheer size of the book.

Lots of detail about one of the most important periods in European history. It really opened my eyes to a large part of American culture that resulted from the particular brands of Protestantism that made it over here (though the treatment of early American protestantism is not really covered except in a quick overview). For example -- what are the different roots of the White and Black southern protestantisms? Why did those rather extreme Scottish (+ Scots-Irish) Presbyterians have such an influence over the US? He devotes equal weight to the Counter-Reformation -- so any of you who are Catholic or were raised in that religion would benefit from understanding the roots of "modern" Catholicism. Confessionals? Catechism? All counter-reformational. That said, I do wish he had an editor. Some parts just go into too much detail, and he lose the narrative thread. Someone else remarked that this is about the trees not the forest, and that is only partly true. The overarching themes of Reformation as Humanism, of the meaning of the Eucharist, of challenges and rebuffs to Papal authority do create a certain unity. But as you are diverted through the Transylvanian reformation, and the Polish-Lithuanian reformation, etc. --- while interesting in their own right -- it is easy to lose track of the the larger picture. I do wish the 30 years war had been covered in more detail, but that may be asking too much from an already 700 pp. tome.

This book is scholarly, witty, and fascinating. MacCulloch has taken a subject full of controversy and oversize individuals and made the book a page turner. There are no heroes in this book, only blood, guts, executions, trials, and internicene hatreds.The horrors of the Inquisition are shown not to be the sole purview of the Catholics--after all, Calvin burned Servetus at the stake for disagreeing with him about the Trinity, and he beheaded a few others for various reasons. The author's sense of humor is always present--he tells us that the reformers liked to sport long beards so that they would resemble Old Testament patriarchs, and then he introduces two pictures of reformers with cascading, curly beards covering their chests. He teases the reader with the puzzle of who wrote the Reformation hymn "Faith of our Fathers" and the answer will astonish you. MacCulloch was a high Anglican, but he deals with the controversies of the Reformation in an even-handed manner. At the end he reminds us that the Reformation stretched from 1517 to 1700, and Europeans were at peace for only thirty of those years. At the end, the borders had moved, but Catholics were still Catholics and Protestants were still Protestant, although very heterogeneous. This book is that rare thing--an exciting history book.