Summer of Fire and Blood

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WINNER OF THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE 2025

A HISTORY TODAY BOOK OF THE YEAR

The definitive history of the sixteenth-century uprising that revolutionized Europe.

The German Peasants' War was the greatest popular uprising in Western Europe before the French Revolution. In 1524 and 1525, it swept across Germany with astonishing speed as thousands of people massed in armed bands to demand a new and more egalitarian order. The peasants took control of vast areas of southern and middle Germany, torching and plundering the monasteries, convents, and castles that stood in their way. But they would prove no match for the forces of the lords, who put down the revolt by slaying somewhere between seventy and a hundred thousand peasants in just over two months.

In Summer of Fire and Blood, the first history of the German Peasants' War in a generation, leading historian Lyndal Roper uncovers the far-reaching ramifications of this doomed rebellion. Though the victors portrayed the uprising as naive and chaotic, Roper's deeply researched account reveals instead a coherent mass movement inspired by the radical principles of the Protestant Reformation. Told through the voices of and beliefs of the people themselves, this is the thrilling, tragic story of the peasants' fight to change the world.

Critics Review

A riveting account of a seismic event in German history which conveys a real sense of why so many ordinary people thought they could change the world. Lyndal Roper writes beautifully and displays a compassionate understanding for the protagonists on both sides of this complex and bloody struggle
Peter Wilson, author of THE THIRTY YEARS WAR
Truly extraordinary - Lyndal Roper is a breath-taking storyteller. Her explosive reassessment of the Peasants' War is a theological, ecological, and social epic. She shows why the chaotic violence, symbolic arsenal of brotherhood, and maze of dreams and visions should matter to us in the twenty-first century
Joanna Bourke, author of AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF KILLING
An extraordinary and brilliant book. In Lyndal Roper's evocatively beautiful, crystal-clear prose, the complex landscapes of early sixteenth-century Germany - physical, psychological, spiritual, social and political - unfold before our eyes. She shows us the dreams and deeds that shaped the Peasants' War, the greatest popular revolt in western Europe before the French Revolution, and the ways in which that war shaped the future that followed. This is a profound account of an attempt to change the world, a sensational narrative that is both human and humane, illuminating, resonant and unsettling
Helen Castor, author of SHE-WOLVES
I knew very little about the history told here. Extremely well told. It's great for history fans.
David Hockney
Summer of Fire and Blood brings the drama, violence, and contingency of the German Peasants' War to vivid life, thanks to the unparalleled scholarly and writing skills of historian Lyndal Roper. There is simply no more compelling or insightful account of this tumultuous mass uprising
Joel F. Harrington, author of THE FAITHFUL EXECUTIONER
Beautifully and sensitively written, Summer of Fire and Blood tells the forgotten trauma of the 16th century - when thousands of ordinary people risked all they had in the hope of ushering in a new world. It takes the stories of our unlettered, peasant ancestors from the sidelines of history and, recentring them, restores their full humanity. And it warns us that the questions they posed are the very urgent questions that confront us again now
Suzannah Lipscomb, author of WHAT IS HISTORY, NOW?
Capably recounting a forgotten episode in European history, Roper's book is full of lessons for modern readers
Kirkus
Engrossing
New York Times Book Review
Roper never tries to hide her fondness for the brotherhood of peasants and their ideals . . . It's refreshing to read a historian unafraid to discuss feelings
The Times
Stirring . . . Roper brings to her story a richly evocative sense of space, place and time
TLS
Roper has written a balanced, comprehensive survey of the uprising, gripping in its narrative and perceptive in its assessments, making it easily the most accessible study in English for a general readership
Financial Times
Powerful
Wall Street Journal
A deeply impressive account of the devastating rebellions that in 1524-25 shook Germany to its foundations
History Today, Books of the Year
I knew very little about the history told here. Extremely well told. It's great for history fans
David Hockney

User Reviews

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tafelschwamm 19/06/2025

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