PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY

Close Notification

Your cart does not contain any items

The Dreadful History and Judgement of God on Thomas Müntzer

The Life and Times of an Early German Revolutionary

Andrew Drummond

$52.99

Hardback

In stock
Ready to ship

QTY:

English
Verso
30 April 2024
In this brilliant work of historical excavation, Andrew Drummond charts

the life and work of Thomas Müntzer, the man Martin Luther proclaimed a Ravening

Wolf and a False Prophet. Despite his short life - he died on the executioner’s block

in 1525 at thirty-five - Müntzer sought to

fundamentally upend German society.

‘Omnia sunt communia’, all things are to be held in common, proclaimed Thomas Müntzer at the head of the massed ranks of a peasant army in the year 1525. Ranged against him: the might of the princes of the German Nation. But how did Müntzer, the son of a coin-maker from central Germany, rise in just a few short years to become one of the most feared revolutionaries in early modern Europe, striking terror into the hearts of the religious and political establishment?

Far from the bloodthirsty devil of legend, Drummond shows us Müntzer as a man, one of considerable learning and principle, deeply sympathetic to the misery of the peasantry and the poor. Seeking to save Müntzer from the condescension of history, Drummond guides us through the religious and political disputes of the Reformation, placing his life and thought in the context of those turbulent years. In doing so, we get a portrait of an often contradictory, but always radical figure, one who continues to inspire movements of the poor across the globe.

By:  
Imprint:   Verso
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 234mm,  Width: 153mm, 
Weight:   538g
ISBN:   9781839768941
ISBN 10:   1839768940
Pages:   384
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Wettin Family Tree Map Acknowledgements Notes on the Text and Some Helpful Remarks 1. A Most Useful Lesson An introduction 2. The End of the World Historical and religious background to the German Reformation 3. The Devil Sowed His Seed Müntzer's early years 4. Murder and Riot and Bloodshed Preacher in Zwickau (1520-1521) 5. He Ran Away like an Arch-Villain A visit to Prague (1521) 6. Satan Wandered in the Wilderness Erfurt, Nordhausen and Halle (1522-1523) 7. Satan Made Himself a Nest in Allstedt A fruitful year of activity in Allstedt (1523-1524) 8. His Face Was as Yellow as a Corpse's Rebellion in Allstedt (1524) 9. Using God's Name, He Spoke and Acted for the Devil Müntzer's theology 10. The Devil Never Let Him Rest Mühlhausen and Nürnberg (1524) 11. His Poisonous Seed In south-west Germany at the time of the peasant uprising (1524-1525) 12. The Time Was Come The Thuringian uprising (1525) 13. Thomas Would Catch All the Bullets in His Sleeves The Battle of Frankenhausen (May 1525) 14. How God Punishes Disobedience The aftermath of defeat at Frankenhausen 15. Rebellious Violent Preachers The early Anabaptists 16. The Devil in Person Historiography Conclusion Chronology Bibliography Notes Index

Andrew Drummond is a historian, novelist and translator based in Edinburgh. He is the author of five novels: An Abridged History of the Construction of a Railway Line Between Ullapool and Lochinver; A Hand-book of Volapük; Elephantina; Novgorod the Great; and The Books of the Incarceration of the Lady Grange. He has also written short stories and translations from German. More recently, he has written a biography of the 18th century adventurer Maurice Benyovszky, and an account of the attempts to extend rail connections to the north-west Highlands of Scotland.

Reviews for The Dreadful History and Judgement of God on Thomas Müntzer: The Life and Times of an Early German Revolutionary

At last - a new account for our times of Thomas Müntzer, theologian and revolutionary. Drummond brings Müntzer and his world vividly to life. He shows us just why Müntzer hated Luther, and how he came to take up arms. What did it mean to be a revolutionary in sixteenth-century Germany? - Drummond shows us. You will be gripped and inspired by this exciting story - I couldn't put it down. -- Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History at Oxford, and author of <i>Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet</i> Posterity has endorsed not just Luther's victory but also his determined character assassination of his rival. Andrew Drummond's scholarly but eminently readable, thoughtful, thorough and at times witty biography of Müntzer redresses the balance for English-speaking audiences -- Professor Michael Russell, University of Glasgow Among the famous figures associated with 16th century Germany, that of religious thinker and social revolutionary Thomas Müntzer deserves to be far better known. Andy Drummond's excellent, brilliantly written and entertaining, new biography delves deep into the archival material to draw out the history of a radical whose life is often obscured by propaganda and myth. As we approach the 500th anniversary of Müntzer's execution, this book is the definitive account of his life. -- Martin Empson, author of <i>'Kill all the Gentlemen': Class Struggle and Change in the English Countryside</i> A blisteringly good book about personal enmity, and the difference between revolution and reform. -- Daniel Brooks * Telegraph * Drummond's marvellous romp of a biography - part jolly Simon Winder-like deep dive into 16th-century Germania, part sagacious reflection on the Reformation in the manner of Diarmaid MacCulloch - aims to free Müntzer from his detractors. -- Stuart Jeffries * Spectator * Drummond's biography of this volatile and subversive thinker is both highly readable and carefully researched. -- Peter Marshall * Literary Review * Andrew Drummond's skeptical and compassionate biography documents a life that is as much a warning as an inspiration to the modern left. Its evocative, exquisitely detailed panorama of Reformation Germany leads us to reflect on the tangled links between religious zeal and the successful exercise of political power. -- Michael Ledger-Lomas * Jacobin *


See Inside

See Also