Radical Religion in Cromwell's England

'Andrew Bradstock has balanced affection and scholarship in his splendid introduction to a social and religious world in which much is bizarrely different, but much is prophetic of modern spiritual and political explorations. It is a pity that contemporaries did not have such a clear and unsensationalised guide to the radical religion of the Interregnum; it might have encouraged them not to subject James Nayler to bodily mutilation, flogging and perpetual imprisonment.' - Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford and author of A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years; 'The upheavals of the English civil war triggered an astonishing explosion of ideas - on religion, politics, society, economics and morality - that were unprecedented and without parallel in English history. These ideas crystallised in a succession of new movements: the pioneering democratic Levellers; communist Diggers; millenarian Fifth Monarchists, proclaiming an imminent kingdom of heaven on earth; and Quakers, fiery and combative evangelists who struck fear into most of their contemporaries. Andrew Bradstock brings these movements to vivid life, capturing their spirit and excitement, and explaining their ideas and appeal. He assesses, too, the challenge they presented to the government and to social order. His book provides an accessible, scholarly, and up-to-date introduction to all these groups, along with Baptists, Ranters and Muggletonians, and offers an ideal introduction for both undergraduates and general readers. Although most of these movements have long since vanished, Bradstock spells out in a stimulating conclusion how many of the concerns they raised - on democracy, authority, toleration, property rights, and gender, for example - remain pressing issues today.' - Bernard Capp, FBA, Professor of History, University of Warwick; 'At the heart of this important book is Andrew Bradstock's concern with the power of religious ideas to inspire political actionA" in the tumultuous years of the English revolution. He shows in lively and lucid prose how attacks on the established church and speculation about sin, salvation and religious truth had profound implications for seventeenth-century government and society. The writings, arguments and interventions of a remarkable array of individuals and movements are presented; Bradstock provides a balanced discussion of the latest scholarly debates on Quakers, Ranters, Levellers and the rest, but often he allows his subjects to speak for themselves with generous extracts from the vivid pamphlets in positions were defended, and enemies denounced. The author covers inspirational but ephemeral movements, like the Diggers who, energised by the extraordinary prose of Gerrard Winstanley, sought to make the earth a common treasury for allA", and other groups like Quakers and Baptists, who endure to this day. Students, more advanced scholars and all those concerned with the dramatic conflicts and fundamental debates of seventeenth century England will benefit enormously from Bradstock's book, and will be encouraged to reflect on the continuing relevance of his themes to contemporary concerns with religious freedom and social justice.' - Ann Hughes, Professor of Early Modern History, Keele University