Alec Ryrie’s remarkable book is a work of meticulous scholarship shot through with wit, perception and affectionate compassion. It is a history, not of theology or doctrine but of people, Protestants – those Christians, in Ryrie’s definition, whose religion is derived ultimately from Martin Luther’s rebellion against the Catholic Church and “who see themselves as God’s chosen people”.

The Protestant movement is shown in all its diversity of traditions, identities, cultures, practices and institutions. With a lucid and engaging narrative style, Ryrie steers the reader steadily through the historical events, crises and consequences that created the movement, without losing sight of his subject or his reader.