We may think we know Luther, but Lyndal Roper shows how much we’ve missed. The service that her magisterial biography does to his memory is twofold: she presents him both as a human being and as a man of his time. She describes a life as it unfolded, full of ambivalence and chance, not retrospectively mythologised. Hers is a book rich in meticulous research and eloquent prose, acute insights and humane judgments. It is surely the definitive account of Luther’s life and work, and will remain so for many years.
It is a fine achievement, deeply researched and fluently written, and it brings its difficult and cantankerous subject to life as no other biography has ... Ms. Roper uses a vast mass of source material in her quest, including 120 volumes of Luther’s collected works. But she also breaks new ground by setting his thought and actions firmly in social context ... Perhaps Ms. Roper focuses too narrowly on Luther’s theology, to the neglect of other sides of his character ... a magnificent study of one of history’s most compelling and divisive figures.
...her book situates this revolutionary thinker and his thought in the sociological, political and religious crosscurrents of contemporary Germany ... Let me stress that Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet isn’t written by an atheistical Christopher Hitchens wannabe, but by a highly respected historian. Roper’s tone throughout is one of evenhanded scholarly inquiry. Along the way, though, she drives home a harsh truth: People who are reasonable, empathetic and civilized make ideal neighbors but it’s usually the zealots and extremists who, for good or ill, change the world.
Deeply researched over a period of more than 10 years, this biography offers a fresh and deeply illuminating study of the man who somewhat reluctantly divided a continent. What emerges is a work of impeccable scholarship and painstaking fairmindedness ... But her decision to stay with Luther in Wittenberg deprives us of any real explanation for why so many beyond Saxony took up his cause...This is a richly satisfying book, and offers some penetrating insights, but the focus on Luther’s inner life leaves us with an incomplete sense of how the man became a movement.
Facilitating Roper’s pursuit is the ocean of writing Luther and his fellow reformers produced with great candor, vehemence, and rancor. Luther wasn’t an easy man, and he fell out with many great associates, cowed others, and disconcerted much of his wider following by refusing to rebel against secular as well as religious authority (more disconcerting nowadays is his hallucinatory anti-Semitism). Arguably the most consequential figure in Western history between Jesus and Napoléon, Luther fully merits the grace and perceptiveness of Roper’s fine book.
Roper’s biography is a demonstration of her skill not only as a historian but also as a storyteller ... A definite strength of the volume is Roper’s ability to explain complex intellectual events clearly; for instance, her discussion of the Diet of Worms and Luther’s later anti-Semitic writings are well-organized and impartial. Roper is willing to allow her subject to stand in full complexity without seeking to simplify away difficulties of character and action. This volume will be of great appeal to scholars, but it is also extremely readable and will find a welcome audience among history enthusiasts.
