The Story of the Renaissance and Reformation focuses on the pivotal events of 15th and 16th century Europe, and picks up the narrative history where The Story of the Middle Ages leaves off. The cover painting used for this book is Rembrandt’s Philosopher Reading. But how did it come to be named Philosopher Reading? Rembrandt was Dutch and a devout Protestant at the time when the Dutch Reformation was in full swing, and in the 17th century when this was painted, how many people had great large books about philosophy like the one this old gentleman is reading? I think it is a Bible he is reading, and this painting reminded me of the new-found freedom everyday people had to read the Scriptures for themselves because of the progress of the Renaissance and Reformation.

s the story of Renaissance Europe was never told in a single volume of Guerber’s histories, but rather piecemeal throughout several volumes, Christine Miller has taken those portions of The Story of Old France and The Story of the English by H. A. Guerber which do tell the story of the Renaissance and Reformation, and has woven them together into a single, seamless narrative, carefully preserving Guerber’s own style. Other sources for additional material include Charlotte Yonge’s A Young Folk’s History of Germany, The Story of the Christians and Moors of Spain, and Frederic Seebohm's The Era of the Protestant Revolution, among others, and an extensive bibliography of sources is included. Where necessary, the chapters authored by C. M. Yonge and F. Seebohm have been re-written in Guerber’s unique style to preserve the continuity and consistency of the narrative throughout.

As with the other Guerber histories republished by Nothing New Press, The Story of the Renaissance and Reformation is illustrated throughout with famous paintings of its historical subjects, and photographs of the places it describes. Not only are maps present in the beginning of the book, but throughout the text as well, which greatly aids in making the narrative more clear. And as with the other Guerber histories, the pronunciation of personal and place names are carefully marked in the text upon their first occurance. A complete timeline of the events and persons mentioned in the text, a comprehensive Recommended Reading list keyed to the chapters, and a thorough bibliography and index rounds out the book.

The preface of this volume discusses the philosophy used in treating the history of the Reformation:

My philosophy in handling such a volatile history as the Reformation deserves some explanation. I have found that modern histories written by secularists are usually balanced, unless the writer holds a particular animosity toward a certain Christian sect, but that balance is offset by a tendency to diminish the very issues of faith which so shaped the people and events of this era. Modern histories written by Protestants tend to gloss over Protestant abuses and play up Catholic ones; and by the same token, modern histories written by Catholics tend to gloss over Catholic abuses and play up Protestant ones.

I am a Protestant, so this book may be skewed slightly to the Protestant cause. But I honestly tried to present both sides, and portray the ardent heroism and deplorable cruelties perpetrated and suffered by both sides of the conflict. For both sides displayed admirable piety, true devotion, selfless courage, and inhuman cruelties, in the name of God’s truth. I wanted to present what happened, and not use the history to editorialize the truth of one position or another, as other Reformation histories for elementary children I have seen have done. Which side had truth, that is for parents to discuss with their children.

Read more about writing The Story of the Renaissance and Reformation in the preface, browse the table of contents, and read chapters from the book at right.

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Read chapter XXXVI:
The Paper on the Door

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The Massacre of the Huguenots

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The Beginning of the Thirty Years' War

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