Most historical books of this sort are amazingly dry; this one is not. Mr. Cressy has done a huge amount of research, and the text is peppered with primary source quotations. I now have a real feel for what these experiences were like in Tudor & Stuart England. I plan to buy whatever other material Mr. Cressy has written--I found him an easy, extremely informative read.

This book gives an excellent look at the Church and its impact in Early-modern Britain. The books two major stregths is that is gives the view points of all the English religions, not just Anglicanism. It gies an excellent chapter of Catholic rememberances in the beginning and continues to give a wide varity of viewpoints that people held. Second, it traces the church through the Civil War, unlike other books that stop after the Elizabethan settlement.

This entire book is about odd cases that made it to one court of law or another in early 16th Century England. I'm no English History buff but I had to read this book for a class I unfortunately signed up for this past semester.

First of all, the use of old court records and depositions to try and determine how society dealt with the Reformation and religious changes after Henry VIII is not going to get you too far. Especially when said records are missing large portions, lacking in certain key details and for the most part just testimony by persons trying to keep themselves in the favor of the courts so that they don't get themselves beheaded or what ever the Hell they did to people back then.

How much does the testimony of OJ Simpson refelct today's political and religious ideology?

I have yet to find a single part of this book that demonstrates one way or another just how society of that time did deal with the Reformation and religious changes taking place. Now I have to go write a 6 page paper about how it does.

The whole book reads like an Old English tabloid.