During the protracted preparation of this book I have incurred many debts. Of these the greatest is to Professor Gordon Rupp who first suggested moderate puritanism as a subject and who supervised my Ph.D. thesis. Without his kindness and encouragement my research would never have even started. Professor Geoffrey Elton has also been an unfailing source of help and encouragement. Professor Patrick Collinson has always shown remarkable patience and kindness in the face of the persistent queries of a novice in a field of which he is the undoubted master. I owe a great deal to the members of the Tudor seminar at the Institute of Historical Research who first taught me what a friendly place the scholarly world can be. Professor Conrad Russell was a source of great encouragement when it was most needed, as were Ann Hughes, Richard Cust, Gerry Bowler, John Nichols, Ron Fritze, Patricia Croot, David Hebb, David Thomas and Alan Thomas. I am extremely grateful to all of them. I have also had the benefit of discussions with Dr H. C. Porter, who stood in as my supervisor when Professor Rupp was on sabbatical, and Dr N. R. N. Tyacke. Latterly, Andrew Foster, Simon Adams and Bill Sheils have all provided stimulation and advice. I owe a debt to two books which no amount of citation in notes can properly convey.