Discussion of the careers of John Foxe and John Day is dominated by consideration of Acts and monuments. However, as this impressive new examination of the writing, dissemination and reception of Foxe's text argues, the critical focus on Acts and monuments obscures the author's and printer's other work while failing adequately to consider the importance and influence of wider literary, political and socio-religious pressures on the construction of Foxe's martyrology. Religion and the book seeks to provide a corrective to other studies of Acts and monuments. John N. King's Foxe's ‘Book of Martyrs’ and early modern print culture (Cambridge 2006) appears to be a particular source of frustration for the authors of this new study. One wonders why King's book was published if it is as error-strewn as Evenden and Freeman suggest, or indeed why it was reissued last year by the same publisher as Evenden's and Freeman's volume. This new study of Foxe's and Day's seminal work repositions the four editions of Acts and monuments published during the life times of both men within the context of their wider careers. Foxe's debt to John Bale and European martyrologies is addressed at some length as are Foxe's other writings, with valuable considerations of Foxe's engagement in controversies with Catholic authors including Nicholas Harpsfield and in disputes between first and second generation reformers at home. Evenden and Freeman argue persuasively for Day's commitment to the ‘Book of Martyrs’ – a book in English of then unprecedented in size – to be partly the product of a desire to maintain his monopolies, including the profitable monopoly over the English Primer and the metrical Psalms in English. The details of the material construction of the book, and the financial implications for Day in undertaking the printing and subsequent reprinting of Foxe's work, provide a fascinating insight into early modern English print culture. This contextualisation is assisted by the book's opening chapters which discuss the printing culture of early modern Europe and Day's career in the reigns of Edward vi and Mary i. The importance and impact of wider political, financial and personal concerns is highlighted by the analysis of the role played by Richard Day in the printing of the third edition of Acts and monuments; further fascinating details are provided in the account of Richard's subsequent disagreement with his father and his role in the monopolies controversy. The suggestion that Acts and monuments benefited from the sponsorship of William Cecil is largely convincing, although some may question the re-reading of the initial ‘C’ from Foxe's dedication to Elizabeth: for Evenden and Freeman, the ‘C’ stands for Cecil, rather the standard suggestion that it stands for Constantine. Cecil is also identified as the third figure attending Elizabeth in the woodcut. Although occasionally marred by some awkward sentences – and with a title that some may find to be less informative than its subtitle – this is an important volume which provides valuable new insights based on new research and acute re-reading of existing evidence.