[This] book is essential reading for everyone interested in early modern English religion. THE HISTORIAN [A] richly detailed book ... [Lake and Stephens] exploit a truly extraordinary convergence of different sources in manuscript and print . The manuscript discoveries, the leads shared by other historians, and the very extensive quotation from the sources vividly show ... Read morethe inner workings of the historical craft. The book is colloquial, relaxed, and sprawling: it buttonholes the reader and compels assent to its strong historiographical line. RENAISSANCE QUARTERLY [I]maginative and bold . . . makes a number of very important points with wide resonance to the study of early modern religiosity. SIXTEENTH CENTURY JOURNAL [L]eaves no doubt that the meanings of religious ideology and public polemic were inseparable from the everyday experience of religion. JOURNAL OF MODERN HISTORY [The authors'] penetrating analysis of the Northamptonshire tragedy and its ramifications is skilfully linked to their thesis of a deeply polarized religious climate in the 1630s. I found their picture of a long-term, cyclical struggle for the soul of the church broadly persuasive too. This is an important book, and one guaranteed to trigger further lively debate. H-ALBION Show Less