Although this book may include information known to many, I am just getting into really studying all this history (or at least trying to remember what I once knew...). I thought it was very readable, I love that a chapter involves a single person so that I can refer back to an individual easily, and overall it is just a springboard to a dizzying array of other related topics....

Short pithy biographies of key political players during the Protestant Reformation. The book is written from the Roman Catholic perspective which gives an interesting viewpoint of the politician's lives.

Excellent book. It reads quickly like Belloc's Great Heresies. It focuses primarily on the evolution of the English Reformation from Henry VII to Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans.

If you enjoy Belloc, then you'll surely enjoy this book. It is more readable than his How the Reformation Happened.

Short bios of important figures. Well written. I learned a lot about something an area where I'm totally ignorant.

I really enjoyed this book.

It's very informative and well written. The writing style is clear and concise.

I learned a lot about the 'characters' and the situations surrounding the Reformation. I had known about some of the characters already, but most of them I'd never heard of before.

Reading "Characters of the Reformation" gave me a lot of good information about the unknown characters, and also provided insight into the characters I already knew about.

The circumstances surrounding the Reformation, or really the Revolution, and the consequences of it were even more varied and widespread then I had originally thought. It goes far beyond just King Henry.

You hear quite a bit about the Reformation on the continent, and Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, but it's very interesting to see how large an effect the English side had on it. Henry's rebellion had a ripple affect that stretched across years and countries that the monarch didn't anticipate.

The chapters were fascinating, and I gained a lot of knowledge from it. I just wish they were a bit longer, but aside from that it was very good.

I would certainly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about history, or Christianity, or especially the history of Christianity.

belloc lowkey a sassy man

Clear, cogent, concise, Catholic perspective on crucial characters of the Protestant Reformation era.

Intense and somewhat dry. Contains short bios of many of the prominent figures during the reformation. I think it would have perhaps helped if I read Belloc's other book, "How the Reformation Happened" before reading this one as it really jumped around in time.

Whew! The author is plainly Catholic and on the side of the Church, but he gives lots of great details. Most poignant moment for me was realizing people who were merely poor when the Church was in charge were completely destitute after the Reformation (the Catholic Church had lots of public works like hospitals, food banks, schools - the Reformers looted everything they could find to line their own pockets and build their personal wealth, leaving poor people to fend for themselves).

Great, short overview. A little repetitive at the end.

Hilaire Belloc was a Catholic, who is considered one of the most prolific writers in Englad during the 20th Century. He collaborated with G.K. Chesterton a fair bit, and one of his most well-known books is Cautionary Tales for Children, which are basically stories to scare your kids straight. As awesomely horrible as those stories are, today I'd like to tell you about one of his historical works - Characters of the Reformation.

Characters of the Reformation begins by talking about the significance of the Reformation. Belloc says that it was "the most important thing in history since the foundation of the Catholic Church." There are also brief paragraphs in this opening chapter, which identify the key players and set the stage for the coming individual chapters that will go into greater detail. We then are presented with the 23 people Belloc believes to be the most important during the Reformation.

The first person we encounter is King Henry VIII. Belloc describes how Henry sought an annulment from Catherine in order to marry Anne Boleyn. However, the annulment was not granted and sycophants encouraged him to go through with the marriage anyhow. Belloc speculates (probably correctly) that if King Henry VIII would have not followed his passions, then the Reformation would have died out in England first, followed quickly by the rest of Europe. Belloc then dedicates individual chapters to each of the two women just mentioned. Catherine was most likely abandoned by her lack of ability to produce a son, and Anne, unattractive as she was, had the ability to get men to be at her beck and call. The next two chapters contrast the two Thomases - Cromwell and More. The former was a flatterer to the King and made him a "pope" in England. The latter tried to serve as an absolute moral compass, but was not listened to, sadly. We also see the figures Pope Clement VII, Mary Tudor, Queen Elizabeth I, Descartes, and Pascal to name a few.

Each chapter in this book is more fascinating than the next. In addition, to getting a portrait of each of these important historical figures, we get an understanding of the part they played in the Reformation. What I like best about this book is that he looks at figures from both sides of the event, Catholic and Protestant. Now, granted, he has a strong Catholic bias, but that is to be expected, and if you know it going into it, you can read the book through that lens. He also omits/ignores the Eastern Orthodox Churches, when saying that if the Reformation had not occurred, there would only be the Catholic Church. Those weaknesses aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this book as it was not a dry presentation of dates and facts, but made the time come alive. If you would like to know more about the Reformation, I highly recommend this book!

This book was provided to me for free by Ignatius Press in exchange for an honest review.

Definitely one of the strangest books I have ever read and rated. The historical research is first-rate and gives the reader a unique look into the world of the reformation time period. Having said that, I have never read a more unbalanced approach to historical writing in my life. Every Roman Catholic is approved of as being nearly perfect, while every Protestant, no matter how successful, is treated with almost complete contempt. Solid research is destroyed by an agenda that is so over the top that it is at time very funny. Not a complete waste of time, but pretty close.