The editors of this volume, commemorating the five-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Primus Truber (Primož Trubar), have provided us not only with a richly illustrated book but much more than that. This tome, the result of a symposium held in Tübingen in June 2008 with the title ‘A Reformer between Slovenia and Wurttemberg’, offers a comprehensive account of the life and times of the Slovenian Lutheran reformer. Truber's ties to Wurttemberg are featured prominently because he spent a significant part of his life there. This is where he found refuge after fleeing from the religious persecution caused by the imposition of the Augsburg Interim in his homeland, identifying himself as exul Christi. Today Truber is considered to be the father of the modern Slovenian language, in addition to being honoured as the author of the first Slovenian books and as a Bible translator. The essays are divided into six parts: Truber's obituary, containing the funeral sermon preached by Jakob Andreae and the funeral orations of Martin Crusius and Erhard Cellius; ‘Biography and theology’; ‘Language and publications’; ‘Wurttemberg; the Habsburg monarchy’; and ‘Truber memoria’. A number of articles examine different aspects of Truber's legacy, including a survey of his life, works and influence by Rolf-Dieter Kluge. Ulrich Köpf demonstrates that Truber was a non-academic, primarily a practical and pastoral theologian. Ljiljana Žnidaršić Golec shows how Truber drew on Wurttemberg's 1559 Kirchenordnung in compiling the first Slovenian church order in 1564. Wilfried Lagler compiles a bibliography: works by Truber printed during his lifetime, i.e. a Bibliographica Truberiana (forty publications between 1550 and 1584, three of which are not listed in VD16), with pictures of their title pages. Apart from its focus on Truber, the volume also addresses the broader context of his time. Anton Schindling presents a solid historical overview of the Habsburg monarchy in the sixteenth century and Franz Brendle, who has three contributions, offers a fine summary of the process of confessionalisation in Wurttemberg. Two essays deal with the Counter-Reformation in Inner Austria (Regina Pörtner and France Dolinar).

This is a well-rounded collection with only a few minor issues. For example, Franz Brendle somewhat romanticises the friendship between Truber and Andreae. It is simply not true that Andreae protected Truber during his trial concerning the lord's supper (p. 22). What happened was actually quite the opposite: Andreae reported Truber to the Wurttemberg ducal court at the end of 1563 for allegedly holding Zwinglian views. Elsewhere, Brendle presents a useful biography of Martin Crusius but fails to point out that Crusius was Matthias Garbitius Illyricus' successor at the University of Tübingen. The book introduces in detail all the places in Germany and Slovenia where Truber worked (Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Kempten, Lauffen am Neckar, Bad Urach, Derendingen and Ljubljana). Apart from making a contribution to the already existing literature on Truber, a great deal can be learned about his contemporaries too, including Baron Hans Ungnad von Sonnegg (Hermann Ehmer), Johannes Manlius (Armin Kohnle), Michael Tiffernus (Brendle), Pietro Paolo Vergerio (Sönke Lorenz) and Tomaž Hren (Dolinar). In summary, this volume is a fitting tribute to Truber and due to its breadth and quality it is highly commended.