The English Reformation was a unique turning point in English history. Derek Wilson retells the story of how the Tudor monarchs transformed the English religion, explaining why it still matters today.

The reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) marked a golden age in English history. There was a musical and literary renaissance, most famously and enduringly in the form of the plays of Shakespeare, and it was a period of international expansion and naval triumph over the Spanish. It was also a period of internal peace following the violent upheaval of the Protestant reformation. This is a book about Elizabethan society - people, rather than things.

Women have made crucial contributions to the life of the Church from New Testament times onwards, but the Reformation saw an explosion in their involvement. Having benefited alongside their brothers from the Renaissance's emphasis on learning, and with the increasing casting aside of the belief that they were intellectually inferior, women learned to read in ever increasing numbers--and most of them wanted to read the Bible. As a result, many started to interpret Scripture for themselves, putting them on a collision course with the Church.

The Queen and the Heretic is a dual biography of two remarkable women - Catherine Parr and Anne Askew. The first was the last queen of Henry VIII, the second a countrywoman from Lincolnshire. They were joined together in their love of the Protestant faith and in the threat this posed to both their lives. Both Catherine and Anne wrote about their beliefs, and their writings are still with us. Powerful men at court sought to bring Catherine down, and used Anne Askew's notoriety as a weapon in that battle. Queen Catherine Parr survived, while Anne Askew, the only woman to be racked, was burned...

The Queen and the Heretic is a dual biography of two remarkable women - Catherine Parr and Anne Askew. The first was the last queen of Henry VIII, the second a countrywoman from Lincolnshire. They were joined together in their love of the Protestant faith and in the threat this posed to both their lives. Both Catherine and Anne wrote about their beliefs, and their writings are still with us. Powerful men at court sought to bring Catherine down, and used Anne Askew's notoriety as a weapon in that battle. Queen Catherine Parr survived, while Anne Askew, the only woman to be racked, was burned...

'A dazzling chronicle, a bracing challenge to modernity's smug assumptions' - Bryce Christensen, Booklist 'O what a world of profit and delight Of power, of honour and omnipotence Is promised to the studious artisan.' Christopher Marlowe, Dr Faustus Between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, Europe changed out of all recognition. Particularly transformative was the ardent quest for knowledge and the astounding discoveries and inventions which resulted from it. The movement of blood round the body; the movement of the earth round the sun; the velocity of falling objects (and,...