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Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring The Reformation transformed Europe and left an indelible mark on the modern world. But what actually was the Reformation and how should it be defined? Historians have long wrangled over whether it represented a force leading to progress, liberty, and modernity, or to conflict, division, and repression. What is certain is that the relationships between Church and State, between subjects and rulers, between men and women, between parents and children, and between Europe and the rest of the world were fundamentally changed during this period.In this Very Short Introduction, now thoroughly revised and updated to take account of the most recent scholarship, Peter Marshall argues that the Reformation was a long-term process of social, political, and cultural change. He shows how it consisted of distinct but related strands that altered the conditions of life for all kinds of people right across Europe. The Reformation also began the process of Christianity's transformation into a world religion. Exploring the effects it had on politics, society, art, gender relations, and the treatment of minorities, Marshall presents the Reformation as a study in unintended consequences and reveals how its complex legacies are still felt today.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Thomas More is an enduringly fascinating and profoundly controversial figure. A brilliant scholar, his Utopia of 1516 dared to imagine how society might be completely reordered. At the same time, his hatred of the Reformation caused him to advocate, and seek to implement, the death penalty for heretics. A friend and advisor to Henry VIII, More's refusal to support Henry's break with Rome led to his execution in 1535, and the start of a long argument about his legacy. This Very Short Introduction assesses More's life, writings and achievements, and examines changing views of his character, in both historical interpretation and various works of fiction. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

'A surprising page-turner, full of humour and startling details' THE TIMES'If I read a better history this year, I will be lucky' TOM HOLLAND'An astonishing tour de force' SPECTATORShortlisted for the HWA Nonfiction Crown AwardLonglisted for the Highland Book PrizeFrom Peter Marshall, winner of the 2018 Wolfson Prize, Storm's Edgeis a new history of the Orkney Islands that delves deep into island politics, folk beliefs and community memory on the geographical edge of Britain.Peter Marshall was born in Orkney. His ancestors were farmers and farm labourers on the northern island of Sanday - where, in 1624, one of them was murdered by a witch. In an expansive and enthralling historical account, Marshall looks afresh at a small group of islands that has been treated as a mere footnote, remote and peripheral, and in doing so invites us to think differently about key events of British history.With Orkney as our point of departure, Marshall traverses three dramatic centuries of religious, political and economic upheaval: a time when what we think of as modern Scotland, and then modern Britain, was being forged and tested.Storm's Edge is a magisterial history, a fascinating cultural study and a mighty attestation to the importance of placing the periphery at the centre. Britain is a nation composed of many different islands, but too often we focus on just one. This book offers a radical alternative, encouraging us to reorient the map and travel with Peter Marshall through landscapes of forgotten history.