First published 2022
Thomas Müntzer watches the Protestant Reformation transform from rebellion into comfortable authority. The theologian sees rural laborers and urban poor still promised equality only in heaven while the powerful claim earthly privilege. Müntzer refuses to accept this betrayal. He preaches a different message, one that demands justice now rather than later. His words spread like wildfire across Germany as peasants take up arms between 1524 and 1525. The German Peasants' War erupts as Müntzer leads the wretched against their oppressors. Through sermons and organizing, he turns religious reformation into social revolution. The established order fights back with brutal force. Müntzer must choose between compromise and total commitment to his vision of earthly equality. This insurrection through the Word becomes a furious struggle that will determine whether the Reformation serves the powerful or the powerless.
Genres: historical-fiction, political-science, social-justice, activism
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: rebellion, social-justice
Setting: Germany
Period: 16th-century
66 pages · Paperback · Picador
Content warnings: violence