This is a very detailed study of the themes of Adam and Eve as treated in Reformation culture, particular as expressed in the Lutheran branch of the Reformation. It is set against late medieval treatments of the first couple; for example, positive connections between Eve and the Virgin Mary were absent in Lutheranism, even though Mary was held in honour as the mother of the Messiah. Kathleen Crowther deals with a wide variety of source materials – Bible annotations and commentaries, sermons, meditations, plays, broadsides, book illustrations – with learning and skill. She ploughs her field with a sharp eye trained to detect the presence of a large range of ideas given a distinctive treatment. Among these are the relationship between body and soul, marriage (especially the sanctity of marriage), the position of women in society, and the justification of social hierarchy. In connection with the body, the author cites numerous broadsides on pregnancy and giving birth (clearly a popular Lutheran genre), which consider women in their own right and not as inferior to men. The chapter on the book of nature wanders a little from the main track, but is interesting as depicting the popularity of the theme of nature as a source of wonder, one of the sources, no doubt, of the modern natural scientific impulse. The author's strong focus on Lutheranism leads to some overstressing of its distinctiveness, for many of its emphases can be found in Calvinism, and in their common Augustinian ancestry, not forgetting that both wings of the Reformation found their ultimate inspiration in Scripture itself. But one should not grumble when such a rich feast is so attractively served.