Printing, Propaganda And Martin Luther

Mark Edwards's pioneering work on the Reformation as a "print event" traces how Martin Luther, the first Protestant, became the central figure in the West's first media campaign. He shows how Luther and his allies spread their message using a medium that was itself subversive: pamphlets written in the vernacular and directed to the broadest reading public. Closely examining Protestant and Catholic pamphlets published in Strasbourg in the early years of the Reformation, Edwards demonstrates Luther's dominance of the medium, the challenges posed by Catholic counterattacks, the remarkable success of Luther's New Testament, and the unforeseen effects of the new medium. This volume has opened an exciting new vista on the European Reformation.

Mark U. Edwards, Jr. is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Harvard Divinity School and former President of St. Olaf College, Minnesota