From the dustjacket onwards this impressive book sets out to present a bottom-up perspective on the first hundred years of Methodism in its broadest sense, and the scope has been restricted in outlook to just one county, Bedfordshire, with occasional excursions into neighbouring areas. For this is a local historian's view, and deliberately aims to portray Methodism in a backwater agricultural county, largely ignored by the Wesleyan historians studying exciting times elsewhere. The author craves forgiveness of fellow local historians if the book appears too academic, and of religious historians if there is too much local detail, but he need not be concerned; both parties have much to learn from his approach, and for this northern-based reviewer whose knowledge of Bedfordshire is little more than the passing scenery on the M1, there was little to deflect attention from following successive cycles of revival and decay. Indeed, by the conclusion, Methodism in Bedfordshire is portrayed as having been as exciting as in Yorkshire. A short introductory chapter, providing background detail of both the county and the origins of Methodism, leads into the body of the book, three chapters portraying roughly equal consecutive periods between 1736 and 1851, each of which was characterised by a sharp initial rise in Methodist membership, followed by a gradual tailing off as recruitment failed to match leakage when enthusiasm waned. Raw statistics of Society membership are given flesh and bones by the analysis of conversion accounts, employment, social standing, political activity and education, with much of the author's evidence drawn either from membership rolls, personal correspondence and, very carefully, the abundant hagiographies. The fifth chapter deals very effectively with the arguments and evidence for the fluctuating fortunes of Methodism, the author firmly believing that local, rather than national issues were the determining factor, the enthusiasm and skill of class leaders and local preachers having much greater bearing on the spiritual progress of members than any influence from the professional preachers. The book is well illustrated and has a vast bibliography, and there are few areas which cause a raised eyebrow. An impression is gained, perhaps, that too great an emphasis is placed on Bedfordshire as an agricultural backwater compared with the northern circuits in the eighteenth century. This was hardly the case: the extensive Keighley circuit in 1764, from which he extracts employment statistics for comparison, was, apart from three small towns, established in communities as rural as Bedfordshire. There has been a call, by David Hempton and others, for much greater interest in the rise of Methodism at a local level, to understand fully how the movement developed, survived and became a powerhouse in the community. This book meets that call and is a model for others to follow. As both local and religious history it is highly recommended.