From the publication of The faithful shepherd: a history of the New England ministry in the seventeenth century (Chapel Hill, NC 1972), David Hall has been one of the preeminent scholars of Puritanism. That study combined an analysis of the broad theological roots of the Puritan understanding of the clergy with an impressive grasp of the political, social and cultural forces that shaped the colonial understanding of the ministry. Since then he has continued to shed light on various aspects of early New England history and religion. Worlds of wonder, days of judgment: popular religious belief in early New England (Cambridge, Ma 1989) provided numerous insights into the religious beliefs and practices of ordinary colonists and an understanding of how men and women experienced life in the region. Ways of writing: the practice and politics of text-making in seventeenth-century New England (Philadelphia, Pa 2008) shed important light on the significance of scribal publication, the preparation and circulation of materials in manuscript form. A reforming people: Puritanism and the transformation of public life in New England (New York 2011) made the case for the influence of Puritanism in shaping the ecclesiastical, political, legal and social institutions of New England in a direction that was more popular than that found elsewhere in the western world. In addition to these works Hall has influenced our understanding of other topics, including the Antinomian controversy and colonial witchcraft, through documentary collections and essays. He has also been an important proponent of understanding ‘lived religion’ in the period.

Hall's latest book, The Puritans, is his most ambitious endeavour, an attempt to construct a comprehensive survey of its subject from its earliest buds to its full flowering in the seventeenth century, and then its legacy for later generations. For scholars of the subject the annotation alone (over one hundred and thirty pages) will be worth the price of the book, revealing Hall's mastery of primary and secondary sources. The geographical scope of the work is in keeping with the effort of a number of scholars over the past decades to place the story of American Puritanism within a broader Atlantic context. The most striking feature of this work is Hall's decision to fold Scottish history into the story, a decision that makes sense in that his approach includes attention to the political travails and triumphs of the movement. I am inclined to think that while the Scottish Reformation certainly has connections to Puritanism as generally understood, expanding the definition of the movement in this way blurs rather than clarifies our understanding of it. In comparison with his extensive treatment of the Scottish story, Hall's treatment of Irish and Dutch Puritanism (arguably more significant to the English narrative) are relatively neglected. Having said this, I believe that this aspect of The Puritans will prompt substantive and important debate on the subject.

Hall's approach is heavily theological, focusing much less on the laymen and women whom he has dealt with in other works in favour of examining beliefs as crafted by the clergy. In doing so he clearly explains some of the most difficult ideas that were being debated at the time. By breaking these ideas down into their component parts he deftly reveals their essence. Examples of this approach are his enumeration of six arguments of the Reformed tradition (pp. 20–6), five themes in the framework of the ‘practical divinity’ (pp. 115–18), the variety of themes and practices in the Puritan reform programme (pp. 158–60) and the three legacies of Puritanism with which he closes the book (pp. 343–54).

Key elements of the book are the author's examination of ‘the practical divinity’ and ‘the reformation of manners’. Starting with an examination of the underlying ideas of these key components of the Puritan programme, Hall examines how each of these features worked out in England, Scotland and New England. In the process he suggests new ways of understanding clashes between Arminians and their opponents, and the controversy that swirled around Anne Hutchinson in the 1630s in New England. As has been the case with all of his works his analysis includes awareness of how his subjects interacted with and were influenced by figures in the Catholic and other Protestant traditions. He brings his points down to earth by illustrating various positions with the stories of ordinary figures such as Thomas Sampson, Nehemiah Wallington, Thomas Shepard and others.

The most ambitious of all the works by this distinguished scholar, this book serves as a capstone to his career to date.