This collection of essays outlines an alternative history of the Reformation in England. It has been assembled in response to complaints from teachers and students that there is, at present, no ‘revisionist’ textbook to set alongside classic studies such as A. G. Dickens's The English Reformation (1964) and T. M. Parker's The English Reformation to 1538 (1950). Although it is hoped that the volume will remain useful thereafter, it is in some respects a holding operation until proposed new books on the Reformation are finally written! The essays have therefore been selected in an attempt to piece together a more or less coherent interpretation – which is why the editor's own work is over-represented. The contributors do not necessarily agree in all respects, and their chapters illustrate different aspects of recent research, from the detailed analysis of diocesan courts to the broad survey of popular attitudes. But, taken together, the essays show how a new version of Reformation history can be constructed. The volume is an incomplete history, of course, though the new ‘Introduction’ and ‘Conclusion’ try to plug some of the gaps: it is thin on politics and on Protestants, but other Reformation studies have given such subjects at least their due. All of the main essays except for Chapter 6 have been published before in journals or collections: the editor is grateful to authors and publishers for their permission to reprint, and especially to Ronald Hutton for allowing his essay to be published here for the first time.