The actual title of the book is: The Reformation – How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World. The book is only 159 pages long and it includes pictures. It is a very easy and somewhat fun book to read – if fun and church history is your kind of thing. It covers a lot of the basics and some of the branching off in denominations that happened after the Reformation. The book is a little silly at times, but it didn’t take away from the overall mood of the book which was mostly informative. I learned some things about the Mennonites, the Amish, and what really is an Anabaptist.

Something I really enjoyed about the book was that it had a section about the women of the Reformation. I had heard of Queen Jane of England, but I did know of the others who were mentioned in the book. What learners! What passion!  So, I wrote the names down and would like to do some research on all of them. Although, I was a little disappointed that the book didn’t include Anne Askew, the only woman in England tortured and then burned at the stake for her faith; but it does say there were others.

Recommendation: I recommend this book to those who are not familiar with the Reformation and would like a brief history of what was happening during this time in church history. Also, anyone wanting some brief history on the different denominations that stemmed out this movement. I would let any of my children read this. The younger ones would probably be a little bored though. 🙂

To the Christian: Sometimes we forget that we have over 2000 years of church history that we can learn from. There truly isn’t anything new under the sun. Even making kids exercise to promote good health was once a church issue!  It is comforting to know that we are not alone in our journey to Heaven, and that there are others whose shoulders we can stand on because of their fervor and love for truth, knowledge of God and the freedom of salvation.