Inspired by the 450th anniversary in 2010 of the death of Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560), the two German-language volumes under review together present a treasure trove of forty carefully-researched Melanchthon articles by a wide range of scholars. Additionally, Wengert's English-language volume is a compendium of thirteen of his articles, published between 1991 and 2008. While an in-depth engagement with fifty-three free-standing pieces of scholarship is beyond the scope of the space allotted here, we may still take a moment to admire the view from afar.

Since the sixteenth century, Melanchthon, despite his pivotal role in the early continental Reformation, has not always been held in the highest regard. Many Lutherans viewed him askance for his late embrace of an evangelical version of free will, for a more Reformed eucharistic theology and for compromising too much with Catholic authorities after the military defeat of the Schmalkaldic League. ‘Philippist’ has not always been a complimentary moniker. However, recent decades have seen more favourable scholarship, with a better understanding of Melanchthon's unique contributions, and a less hostile evaluation of his theology. Perhaps in light of a post-Christendom age with a postmodern philosophy in an increasingly secular West, the theological differences between Melanchthon and Luther seem more like variants on a common theme, rather than outright discord. Fricke and Heesch's volume, for example, takes up this more positive tone.

Der Humanist als Reformator is the product of an interdisciplinary lecture series on Melanchthon and his influence at the Institute for Evangelical Theology at the University of Regensburg, engaged in the winter semester of 2010–11. It gives special attention to Melanchthon's influence on southern Germany (in Bavaria, generally, and Regensburg in particular). The book is organised into three major sections. The first considers Melanchthon as a representative of his time. Keller and Luttenberger give general overviews of Melanchthon's significance, while Kothmann looks at Melanchthon in Bavaria, Wenz examines the Augsburg Confession, Heron wanders into English to discuss Calvin in Regensburg, and König examines the topic of Melanchthon and women (which seems to represent more the concerns of our time than Melanchthon's). The second major section of the book is an eclectic collection of articles on Melanchthon's theology (Schwarz), philosophy (Schönberger, Meinel) and art history (Dittscheid). The final section examines Melanchthon's significance from a more distant perspective for pedagogy (Fricke), the history of philosophy (Heesch) and ecumenism (Knoll and Thiede). The discussions are invariably studious and helpful. The addition of some sort of index might have been a useful tool for the reader. Also, with a few exceptions (for example Hans-Christoph Dittscheid and Michael Fricke), these articles reference almost no English-language works. The scholarship of Wengert and Kolb, for example, might have enriched some of these articles. It is worth fostering an international discussion of Philipp Melanchthon – a figure of definite international significance.

Dingel and Kohnle's volume is also divided into three major sections, comprised of numerous articles stemming from the cooperation of several German institutions (for example in Mainz, Leipzig and Wittenberg) in honour of the 450th anniversary of Melanchthon's death. The first section of the book examines Melanchthon as friend, mediator and opponent (including Dingel on the issue in general, Weide on Melanchthon's correspondence with Spalatin, Kohnle on alliance negotiations with France and England [1534–6], Mundhenk on Melanchthon's correspondence from the Regensburg Colloquy in 1541, Ilić on Garbitius and Flacius, and Peters and Ludwig on Philippism). The second major section discusses Melanchthon as the teacher of Germany and Europe (including Dall'Astra on the Melanchthon circles at Tübingen and Wittenberg; Köpf, Junghans and Bartmuss on the Loci; Michel on Melanchthon's Sunday lectures; Gummelt on Melanchthon's influence on Mecklenburg and Pomerania; Hasse on theological censorship; Selderhuis on ecclesiastical law; Kühne on der Wunderbrunnen from Pyrmont in Melanchthon's letters; Frank on topical dogmatics with Melanchthon, Musculus and Melchior Cano; and Hund on eucharistic theology). The last major section relates to Melanchthon as European Reformer (including Bechtold on humanism; Wischmeyer on Melanchthon's communication with the king of England; Schneider on the interim of 1548; Czaika on Melanchthon in Sweden; Daugirdas on Melanchthon in Poland-Lithuania; Hein on Melanchthon in Hungary; Vogel on Melanchthon in Italy; and Scheible on the last fifty years of Melanchthon research). These articles are detailed and well-substantiated, and the book contains a nice index of persons.

While the merits of the original publication of new research are obvious, the utility of a hardcover collection of reprinted articles is less clear. With increasingly sophisticated electronic archiving and retrieval systems, the republication of older materials is becoming redundant. Nevertheless, Wengert's book is a handy collection of useful Melanchthon articles gathered together in one place. This volume is in two main sections. The first part of the book includes articles on Melanchthon's theology (including on stereotypes of Melanchthon; his annotations on Romans of 1522; his patristic exegesis; his utilisation of Augustine; his views on time and history; his stance on free will between Luther and Erasmus; his role at the Regensburg Colloquy; his eucharistic theology; and his political theology). The second part of the book deals with Melanchthon and his contemporaries (including Luther, Calvin and Erasmus) and the Augsburg Interim. Wengert's exacting research is a necessary point of call for any modern researcher of Melanchthon.

In all, these three volumes present a host of Melanchthon-related articles, and they provide a service both to Melanchthon studies and to the field of the Reformation(s) more broadly.