As Anne Braude argued almost twenty years ago in reference to American history: “women's history is religious history” (“Women's History Is Religious History,” in Retelling U.S. Religious History, ed. Thomas A. Tweed [Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997], 87–107). This mantra bears repeating even as scholars have made great strides in changing the traditional male perspective evident in the early modern history of Protestant denominationalism. While most scholars have recognized that women were part of the myriad religious movements that emerged during the “English Reformation” of the seventeenth century, fewer have explored the depth and breadth of sources written by women to investigate the influence of female members on revolutionary religions, such as the Baptists and Fifth Monarchists. Adcock accomplishes this task beautifully by taking a literary approach to demonstrate “a hitherto unappreciated level of achievement in these women's works by considering their rhetorical strategies to the constraints of their society and of their congregations” (1). As part of a revolutionary religious culture, Baptist and Fifth Monarchist women not only participated in newly formed churches, they both contested and affirmed the practices of their radical religions. They engaged in theological and ritual debates; in the process, they helped shape their denominations. They disputed open versus closed communion, advocated for believer's baptism, and prophesized the return of “King Jesus.” Though it is difficult to discern exactly how many women were members of early Baptist congregations based on extant church records, Adcock's analysis of women's writings provides a window into the extensive activism and impact of women on revolutionary religion. As she asserts, this book examines “many under-utilised and under-discussed publications” by Baptist and Fifth Monarchist women (191). She deftly interweaves a literary analysis of these women's works through their use of biblical imagery and concepts at the same time providing essential historical context on the religious and political upheavals of the 1650s, 1660s, and 1670s. Through this process, she clearly and cogently shows that Baptist women were “godly co-inheritors of the kingdom of God,” and had “equal interest in preparing the world for the coming of Christ.” They were active participants in “strengthening and reforming the movement from within, often urging their ministers or elders to go further in their separation, or to clarify points of doctrine” (191).

The book is arranged thematically with an introduction and conclusion plus four chapters outlining the various roles female writers were construed as having or took on in their narratives. The women whose writings are discussed include Agnes Beaumont, Deborah Huish, Sara Jones, Susanna Parr, Elizabeth Poole, Katharine Sutton, Anna Trapnel, Jane Turner, Anne Venn, and Anne Wentworth. The first chapter, “Frantique Handmaids,” examines stereotypes of early Baptists as iconoclasts who not only challenged patriarchal authority, but turned female members into lascivious strumpets and murdering mothers. The Baptist practice of adult baptism by immersion conjured images of naked women and sexual orgies as well as unbaptized children who met early deaths because they were bereft of this ritual's protection. Agnes Beaumont, who faced charges of disorderliness because she flaunted her father's authority to attend a Baptist meeting, defied contemporary views of religiously radical women to assert her role as a “divine instrument” (67). The next chapter, “Valiant Deborahs,” documents the trials of women who left the established church and faced censure for refusing to baptize their children or partake in the churching of women ritual. Concomitantly, female members confronted attempts by male leaders to silence them due to growing criticism that Baptists were awash in “she-preachers.” Some women faced excommunication for their appraisal of male leadership—and lack thereof—in the face of state oppression. For example, Sara Jones justified women's activism in the church by invoking the image of Deborah, the Old Testament prophetess who roused her brethren to action against a tyrannical ruler.

“Mothers in Israel,” the third chapter, discusses the role of Baptist women as “mothers, mediators, and advisors” in cultivating the coherence and integrity of their churches, particularly in ritual debates. They discussed the proper way to baptize (“dipping” or “sprinkling”), who to admit to communion, and whether ministers should administer laying on of hands to new members. Jane Turner warned other believers of the ongoing dangers of spiritual slippage even after their conversion, baptism, and admission to church membership in hopes of regulating disorderly congregations. The fourth chapter, “The Woman's Seed,” describes prophecies by both Baptist and Fifth Monarchist women. Anna Trapnel, a Fifth Monarchist, made adroit use of biblical precedent, allegory, and metaphor to make a convincing case for female guidance in bringing about Christ's return to earth. Anne Wentworth, who was locked out of her husband's home, had a miscarriage, and lost her belongings, used her personal experiences as emblematic of the larger persecution facing her church. Similarly, Deborah Huish outlined her individual struggle to overcome evil and find salvation as an allegory for the oppression faced by English and Irish Baptists. These female writers contributed to a pantheon of millenarian prophecies to provoke believers out of their lethargy and into action in the wake of the religious and political changes wrought by the Restoration.

Building on previous work by Patricia Crawford, Elaine Hobby, Hilary Hinds, Elizabeth Clarke, Teresa Feroli, Erica Longfellow, Phyllis Mack, and Catie Gill, Adcock makes an indispensable contribution to the growing number of publications on gender and women, female-authored sectarian texts, and radical religions in early modern England. It should be of great interest to historians of early modern women, gender and religion, and the radical religious culture of the seventeenth century. This first rate scholarship is convincing evidence to support the legitimacy of Braude's claim that “women's history is religious history.”