Even though much recent research on the aftermath of the Reformation has showed us that English Catholicism was a much more vigorous and potent force than was once commonly imagined, it is only now that a series of micro-studies are revealing just how fraught and contested religion was in the sixteenth century. Alexandra da Costa's scrupulous and scholarly examination of ten years in the life of Syon Abbey, a monastery of the Brigettine Order in Surrey, is an excellent case in point. Syon was hardly an obscure and isolated religious foundation: it was wealthy, well-connected and close to London. Yet, despite the extreme risks, the order did what they could to defend the orthodoxy of the late medieval Church against the ravages of dissolution. Reforming printing has three principal aims: to show that early sixteenth-century Catholicism ‘was neither static nor uncritical of traditional religion’; to highlight the ‘dynamic nature’ of the mission; and to ‘demonstrate the importance of conservative vernacular theology in this period’ (pp. 2–3). The substance of the book examines the works printed by three of the monks, William Bonde, John Fewterer and Richard Whitford, to gauge their reaction to the assault on their beliefs, finding them dynamic and resourceful in their responses, eager to have the Church regroup and respond to the challenge to their faith, exactly what preaching orders were supposed to do. The monastery assumed that the community would be centred around the texts that it studied and produced, which is why the works produced are so revealing, significant and numerous. Not only did they create a sense of Christian unity but they provided a series of bold attacks on the Reformation from above, notably Henry viii's assumption that he could lead the Church. For all the writers considered here, the Church was the manifestation of God's will and so needed to act as ‘mediator of the scriptures’ (p. 84) (although there was notable silence on the question of biblical translation). There was a stated confidence that the English Church would survive these assaults and return to the fold. Unfortunately, as forces against Henry grew stronger so did his need to silence his critics and Syon was unable to continue its work long into the 1530s. Da Costa's conclusion points to the overtly political nature of the abbey's role in the late 1520s and early 1530s, specifically through its use of literary models and literary language, showing how groups of Catholics were ‘organized, committed, and active in their defence of orthodoxy’ (p. 170). A succinct, lucid and fascinating study.