This is G.R. Elton's classic account of the Reformation, revealing the issues and preoccupations which seemed central to the age and portraying its leading figures with vigour and realism.

G. R. Elton was Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University from 1983 to 1988. Among his numerous works are The Tudor Revolution in Government (1953), England under the Tudors (1955), Reform and Renewal (1973), The Parliament of England 1559-1581, and The English (Blackwell, 1992). He was founding editor of the Blackwell History of the Modern British Isles. he died in 1994.

Andrew Pettergree is Professor in Modern History at the University of St Andrews and Director of the St Andrews Reformation Studies Institute.