Out of the Storm: The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther
Jan 2008 · Macmillan + ORM
Ebook
428
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
"Scores highly in thoroughness, clarity, and human sympathy. If you want a model of how to defy uncomprehending power . . . or a model of how to laugh at the Devil, Wilson has provided a reliable guide as to how Luther did it."
---Sunday Telegraph (UK)
Martin Luther changed Europe and, through Europe, the world. It was he who originally exposed the myth of a unifed Latin Christendom, in fact only held together by crusades, heresy hunts, Inquisition, and priestly magic. Though not the first radical thinker to challenge papal pretensions and the doctrines they were founded on, by his defiance Luther created the biggest cause célèbre of the age. But this renegade monk did not just split Europe into rival Protestant and Catholic camps. By urging Christians to read and interpret the Bible for themselves, he gave a religious boost to that emancipation of the individual we associate with the Renaissance. By putting men and women in charge of their own destiny he made a cultural impact that is incalculable.
The first major biography in English for many years, by leading historian Derek Wilson, Out of the Storm responds to recent Reformation scholarship to assess Luther's impact on his own and later ages. This warts-and-all study gives a vivid picture of a complex and driven man---courageous, stubborn, rumbustious, vulgar, erudite, self-opinionated, but a man of tireless energy and, above all, total conviction. For his achievements we can admire him. In his failings we can identify with him. Luther remains perpetually fascinating.
---Sunday Telegraph (UK)
Martin Luther changed Europe and, through Europe, the world. It was he who originally exposed the myth of a unifed Latin Christendom, in fact only held together by crusades, heresy hunts, Inquisition, and priestly magic. Though not the first radical thinker to challenge papal pretensions and the doctrines they were founded on, by his defiance Luther created the biggest cause célèbre of the age. But this renegade monk did not just split Europe into rival Protestant and Catholic camps. By urging Christians to read and interpret the Bible for themselves, he gave a religious boost to that emancipation of the individual we associate with the Renaissance. By putting men and women in charge of their own destiny he made a cultural impact that is incalculable.
The first major biography in English for many years, by leading historian Derek Wilson, Out of the Storm responds to recent Reformation scholarship to assess Luther's impact on his own and later ages. This warts-and-all study gives a vivid picture of a complex and driven man---courageous, stubborn, rumbustious, vulgar, erudite, self-opinionated, but a man of tireless energy and, above all, total conviction. For his achievements we can admire him. In his failings we can identify with him. Luther remains perpetually fascinating.
About the author
Derek Wilson, a leading biographer and novelist, came to prominence thirty years ago, after graduating from Cambridge, with A Tudor Tapestry: Men, Women and Society in Reformation England. This was followed by several critically acclaimed and bestselling books such as Rothschild: A Story of Wealth and Power; In the Lion's Court: Power, Ambition and Sudden Death in the Reign of Henry VIII; and All the King's Women: Love, Sex and Politics in the Life of Charles II. He has also written and presented numerous radio and television programs.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
