LUTHER ALIVE: Martin Luther and the Making of the Reformation

by Edith Simon ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 3, 1968

Any biography of Martin Luther is necessarily also the story of the Reformation, and this popularization of the career of the great rebel is no exception. The history of both one and the other follow in this book the classic pattern, working from Luther's background and boyhood, student days, ordination and monastic life, to his revolt, excommunication, the trial at Worms, and so forth until his death in 1546. It is to the author's credit that she has avoided the propagation of such folktales as that having to do with the nailing of the Theses to the church door and has incorporated into her lively narrative the latest findings of the scholars as well as the spirit of impartiality required by the controversial nature of her subject. The result is a popular biography of Luther and a popular history of the Reformation that will have a strong appeal for the general reader. The student and the historian will object, however, to Miss Simon's black-and-white approach to some of the enigmatic personalities of the period (the Emperor Maximilian, for example, is simply ""a wash-out as Emperor""!), and to her failure to refer to some of the most important recent publications on the subject for the filling in of historical detail (to Fife's The Revolt of Martin Luther, for instance).

Pub Date: May 3, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION