In his The Western Church in the Later Middle Ages (Ithaca, 1979), Francis Oakley stated in reference to the Bohemian reformer Jan Hus that, “the great puzzle about his life lies in his ending” (295). Numerous biographies and histories of Hus revel in the dramatic events and concepts leading to his fiery demise. Scholars have traditionally searched through Hus's sermons seeking heresy, revolution, or evidence of a martyr complex to explain his doomed appearance at the Council of Constance in 1415. Hus's role as preacher is frequently covered as an afterthought to the events leading to and as a consequence of his death. Into this discussion, we can finally add an English translation of Pavel Soukup's Jan Hus: Life and Death of a Preacher, which was originally published in German in 2014 and Czech in 2015. Soukup is the premier scholar on Bohemian preaching. His writing is not as passionate or, frankly, as engaging as the recent writings of Thomas Fudge, such as The Trial of Jan Hus (Oxford, 2013) or Jan Hus between Time and Eternity (Lanham, 2016), but Soukup's work is more accessible, extremely well researched, and, most significantly, projects a level of balance between Hus's remarkable life and the “puzzle” to explain his excruciating death.

The first few chapters of this book read as though Soukup felt compelled to include them. Rather than addressing Hus's death and legacy at the end of a biography, Soukup's first two chapters tread the well-worn path of the trial and historiography of Hus before even summarizing his biography in chapter 3. Both chapters are concise and clear, and though neither is exhaustive, one cannot accuse Soukup of shirking these discussions. This approach, however, is a refreshing change for scholars of medieval Bohemia, who are conditioned to wallow in the centuries of controversies revolving around Hus's trial and legacy. For someone recently introduced to the period, this organization may be chronologically frustrating. Yet, beginning with chapter 3 and progressing through the rest of the text, Soukup incorporates in each chapter one year of Hus's preaching career up to the point of his conviction in Constance. These years are not treated as a litany of sources and events, but rather each year is centered on a theme that he illustrates with source material and successfully applies to a broader perspective. For example, chapter 4 not only covers 1402 and Hus's appointment at Bethlehem chapel but also adeptly highlights the surviving collections of Hus's sermons for his whole career. Chapter 7 focuses on 1409, Hus's preaching to the Bohemian Synod, and his initially positive relationship with the archbishop. Perhaps the most surprising chapter is chapter 8, in which Soukup adeptly paints a prosopographic picture of Prague University's academic milieu at the time of the landmark 1409 Kutna Hora Decree. Several books exist that examine Prague University's fascinating system of governance, but Soukup is able to frame this description through the detailed lives of individuals that interacted with Hus. Soukup's effective combination of systematic and thematic approaches sheds a direct light on a preacher in his context, rather than a martyr chasing after flames.

As valuable as this text is, there are some glaring deficiencies. First, Soukup is fully capable of providing his readers with a systematic analysis of Hus's surviving sermons, but sadly this isn't done. He does reference a number of Hus's sermons, but for scholars looking for a long overdue homiletic analysis, this text is a bit light. Second, Soukup's Czech edition contains an excellent collection of visual culture to illustrate the events and themes of Hus's life; this English edition is without illustration and is lessened by the omission. Finally, it is uncustomary to comment on a book's cover art, but I find it fascinating that the cover of the 2015 Czech edition shows a peaceful image of Hus preaching to a small outdoor crowd, while the only illustration of the edition under review is the cover image that depicts Hus being led to the pyre, the soon-to-be martyr surrounded by armed men with brandished polearms and taunted from above by demons. Soukup's book does an admirable job of telling a more complete and balanced narrative of Hus's life and death, yet for an Anglophonic audience, the cover continues to sell the “puzzle” of his ending.