This is a fascinating study of Protestant autobiographies printed during the seventeenth century by English authors in the Atlantic world. Lynch explains that comparing these writings across boundaries means that we can better understand and discern ‘patterns of exchange and influence’ (p. 4) that are missing in national histories. In the colonial world, the movement of ministers from church to church and even the book trade itself, kept communities in touch and communicating with each other. While it is not necessary to study the autobiographies to understand these Protestant interconnections, this book proves the value of this approach. In an interesting introduction explaining her thesis, Lynch begins with the confession of Richard Norwood, who was converted in Bermuda, but who then spent years questioning his beliefs before coming to terms with his salvation. The publication of his and other personal confessions of religious conversion was an important factor in these cultures' religious and political developments. Lynch emphasises the community impact of the printing of individual experiences and explains how they interacted with and influenced contemporary social and political forces. These Protestant confessions followed a pattern developed by the works of English Calvinist preachers. One of the most influential was William Perkin's Golden chain (1591). Following these ministers' guidelines, individuals could construct and come to understand their religious identities, ending with confessions of the state of their salvation. To arrive at belief in their conversion, Protestants in the Atlantic communities read many religious books, including a translation and printing of St Augustine's works in 1620, and some had turned to autobiographical writings by the middle of the seventeenth century. This study examines these narratives with their spiritual journeys and experiences as impacting on and extending beyond the social, cultural and political issues of their related communities. It also explores the authors' adaptation to legal nonconformity and then their reactions to the restrictive Restoration statutes. In her conclusion Lynch points out, of course, that the outpouring of autobiographies and the concurrent attempt to align religious and political identities failed to create a comprehensive state Church.