The topic of the Jews and the Reformation, once neglected by scholars of the Catholic and Protestant Reformations, has received increasing attention over the past decades, particularly with the five-hundredth anniversary of the Ninety-Five Theses. Austin's book, which provides a rich and broad picture of Jewish-Christian relations from Spain to Poland, is a welcome and important addition to the field.

Austin demonstrates the impact that piety and reform had on societies across Europe. In Italy, Savonarola's preaching led him to assume power; in Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella oversaw the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition, later expelling the Jewish population in 1492; in cities of the Holy Roman Empire and the Swiss Confederation Reformed practices were adopted. The culture of reform reopened the debate about the Jewish place in Christian society, and Austin analyses the contours of that debate across different countries and confessions. Austin adopts a pan-European approach, which allows the reader to ascertain the broad intellectual and societal trends characteristic of this period. He provides both concrete and theoretical explanations for these parallels, reminding the reader, for example, that Ferdinand and Isabella's approach toward a universal Catholicism was adopted by their grandson Charles, who assumed not only the throne of Spain, but also that of the Holy Roman Empire in 1519 (p. 32).

As Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed Christians sought to sharpen their own religious identities, the role of the Jew, who had traditionally served as foil to the pious Christian, was reexamined. Austin explains that Jews were often caught in the ‘crossfire’ of confessional warfare. In Catholic society, Judaism was one of several issues addressed by the Tridentine Church; the censorship of key Jewish texts was part of a larger campaign against heresy, but one which clearly impacted the Jewish community. In addition, authors from various confessions denounced competing confessions by likening them to the Jews. Protestants derided Catholic legalism to Judaism, while Catholics such as the archbishop of Toledo referred to the Protestant ‘heretics of Germany’ as ‘descendants of Jews’ (p. 148). The difficulty of being too closely associated with Judaism was also given expression in the dynamics between mainstream and radical Protestants. Since the latter were often criticised for judaizing, the former took great care to ensure that they were ‘above reproach’ (p. 77).

A central theme in Austin's treatment of the Reformation and the Jews is the growing interest among Christians in Hebrew and Judaica, which was fuelled by humanism and reform. Austin surveys various examples of and debates about Christian Hebraism, arguing that these were central for the battle for religious authenticity spurred by the Reformation. The attitude of Christian intellectuals and reformers to the Jews was rendered even more complicated by the Christian interest in the biblical Jews and in the role that Jews were to play at the End of Days. Calvinist clerics in Geneva, for example, urged local Christians to furnish children with biblical names, rendering the Jews of the Bible a ‘critical reference point’ in individuals’ identities and lives (pp. 77–8). In some cases, Christians were thought to have superseded the Jews as the new Israel, as is evident in the martyrology of Jean Crespin (p. 100).

Debates about Jews also led to concrete policies that impacted Jews’ lives. The sixteenth century witnessed multiple new attempts to convert the Jews. In Italy, ghettos and domi catechumenorum, houses for potential converts, were established to facilitate converting local Jews. Protestants, too, attempted to convert the Jews. While Luther's early writings, such as his 1523 treatise That Jesus Christ was born a Jew, include some of the most notable attempts at encouraging conversion, Austin also analyses the significant writings in this sphere by Reformed theologians such as Sebastian Münster, Paul Fagius and Immanuel Tremellius. While not many Jews converted, the desire to missionise is indicative of the ‘aspirations’ of the Catholic Church and of some Protestant reformers (p. 108).

The ghetto also afforded the Catholics greater control over the local Jewish population. While Austin notes that the ghetto provided certain benefits to the Jews, by permitting them residence and the ability to practise their religion in Italian cities, it also enclosed them and marked them as a population that was other. Austin brilliantly connects the Italian ghettos to limitations on Jewish residence elsewhere in Europe, explaining that in cities across the continent, authorities sought ‘a practical solution to an intractable problem’. Although the presence of Jews was deemed necessary for economic reasons, given the tensions inherent in relating to Jews during this period of ‘religious sensitivity’, Christian authorities did not want to furnish the Jews with ‘free reign’ (p. 72). Thus, in Italian cities, Jews were only permitted to reside in the ghetto, while in cities such as Strasbourg, they were denied residence, yet admitted daily for work. Policies restricting Jews residence, whether by quota, ban or enclosure, were all balanced between ‘religious commitment and political’ or economic ‘expediency’ (p. 115).

As is apparent from the themes discussed above, Austin ‘focuses chiefly on Christian attitudes and behaviours’ (p. xviii) toward the Jews, although he does include several examples of Jewish responses to such attitudes and policies. In a book entitled The Jews and the Reformation, one might have expected the Jews’ role as actors, rather than as mere subjects of Christian policies to have been given greater primacy. Yet Austin is conscious of this choice, and presents a masterful, clear and comprehensive history of the shifting Christian debate about Jews. He toggles between Christian attitudes toward contemporary Jews and biblical Jews (whether in the past or in future redemption), arguing that during this period, the two intersected in the eyes of Christian thinkers. The book paints a vivid picture of early modern tolerance, from the conflicts and expulsions of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries to the pragmatic compromises of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Austin makes a compelling case both for seeing Jewish-Christian relations as fundamental to the Reformation, and for seeing the Reformation as having significantly shaped the course of Jewish-Christian relations.