HISTORY

Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants’ War

by Lyndal Roper
Basic. Feb. 2025. 544p. ISBN 9781541647053. $35. HIST
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The German Peasants’ War of 1524–25 was the greatest popular uprising in Western Europe before the French Revolution. At its peak in spring 1525, over 100,000 people were involved; some 70,000 to 100,000 peasants were slain. At the heart of the revolt was the growing sentiment that relations with lords had changed for the worse, shifting from a personal connection to a less flexible commercial one. Still, little is known about it, partially because it was a movement and the “winners,” not the unschooled peasants, wrote their own history. But Roper’s (history, Univ. of Oxford; Living I Was Your Plague: Martin Luther’s World and Legacy) book brings awareness of this battle. She approaches her analysis unburdened by the Marxist preconceptions of many of her predecessors, and her research is Herculean in scope.
VERDICT Roper’s close reading of the texts presents a rich, multidirectional history of an important historical period. And she writes like a dream. An exciting history book that’s likely to be the go-to study for years to come.
Reviewed by David Keymer , Dec 20, 2024
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