'This is a masterly study of the most widely known English theologian of the last years of the reign of Elizabeth I and the reign of James I and VI.' * H. Gaston Hall, Cahiers Elisabethains * '. . . those of us who teach post-Reformation England have been saying for years that we need a first-rate study of Perkins. Now, at last, we have it.' * Alec Ryrie, Times Higher Education Supplement * Patterson's conclusions are compelling and his expositions engaging . . . This is not just a good book: it is a key study for all interested in a robust historical engagement with the shape of Elizabethan orthodoxy and the contours of its theological debates . . . Patterson may not only spur historians to greater care but also inspire an Anglican ressourcement of Perkins as a seminal and expansive divine. * Benjamin Guyer, The Living Church * It can be confidently recommended to nonexperts in the field, while those more familiar with the subject will be won over by Patterson's courteous, even-handed exposition of sixteenth-century controversies and modern academic squabbles. [T]his book more than succeeds in revealing the range of Perkins's writings and thinking against the backdrop of ecclesiastical controversy and politics: anyone working in the field will want to consult it. * John Spurr, Journal of Modern History * Patterson's volume is a valuable addition to the literature on this important English churchman . . . it yields a rich portrait of a powerful thinker whose death in his mid-forties deprived the English church of one of its leading lights. * Andrew Murphy, Journal of British Studies * Because of its accessibility, erudition, and breadth, this book will be valued by undergraduates and scholars alike. Patterson does justice to William Perkins, the Cambridge don, scholar, theologian, preacher, teacher, and religious writer at the heart of this study and, as Patterson proves, at the heart of a Protestant England. This convincing reassessment of a figure most of us will feel we knew is a welcome addition to the field. * Susan Royal, Bristish Catholic History * Patterson's deft accounts of Perkins's pioneering and wide-ranging writings are revelatory on casuistry, preaching, and questions of social justice . . . [this] book is a valuable addition to our understanding of the Protestant evangelization of England in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. * J. Sears McGee, Renaissance Quarterly * This is a masterly study of the most widely known English theologian of the last years of the reign of Elizabeth I and the reign of James I and VI. * H. Gaston Hall, Cahiers Elisabethains * those of us who teach post-Reformation England have been saying for years that we need a first-rate study of Perkins. Now, at last, we have it * Alec Ryrie, Times Higher Education Supplement * Patterson's succinct prose and delivery make this book easy to read for both scholars and students to become better acquainted with a man who was so committed to making a unified Church of England. * Valerie Schutte, Sixteenth Century Journal * Patterson's book effectively shows that Perkins sought to help English Christians live out their faith as members of the Church of England. . . . [I]t shows Perkins in a new light, providing excellent expositions of his main works. . . . it raises new questions about Perkins, which will, I hope, inspire further examination of this fascinating figure. * Angela Ranson, Church Times * William Perkins and the Making of a Protestant England is an engaging, thematic study of one of the most influential theologians in late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Britain. * Russell Newton, Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology * a first-rate study which fills a major historiographical gap by providing a long-awaited, well-researched, and extensive treatment of the life and of virtually all the major works of the English clergyman William Perrkins * Greg Salazar, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History * essential reading * William E. Engel, Sewanee Review *