Good overview and analysis. Great opening, weak closing. Misconstrues sola scriptura to some degree, as McGrath does not take into account the controlling rule of faith that the magisterial reformers adopted form the ancient Fathers. Nonetheless, a worthwhile contribution. ( )

Four hundred and seventy eight pages. What a wire brushing! You read this and you will have a very good education on the protestant movement. I appreciate his irenic scholarly approach. Very helpful to me as a Christian. ( )

First class account of not just the history but also the social effects of the reformation. Very rapidly it becomes obvious that even Protestants cannot agree about the bible and that that causes real problems. There are clear accounts in the book of where these disagreements are to be found.
The influence of protestantism on theology and church history is described but of great interest is the attention given to colonial history, missionary work, the effect on the Arts, Science and Politics.
At times McGrath leans over backwards to be fair to the Catholics. I have found many memorials in England which make it clear that the medievals thought they could buy remission for their sins with legacies in their wills, it was not just a local German problem. Calling the celebrations in Rome after the St Bartholomew's day massacre "bizarre" seems unduly kind, but then saying that Finney's evangelisitc methods "might" have been manipulative is equally gentle.
Does he emphasise Pentecostalism too much? It's certainly not breaking through where I come from. Is it really having a lasting effect in the third world? When education spreads will they still be impressed by tongues?
Excellent survey of the results of giving individuals access to the foundation documents of the faith. ( )