The reading level of this very readable biography of Luther is a couple steps up from the Strackbein girls’ Katharine Von Bora, going into more detail on Roman Church error, the veneration of relics, the sale of indulgences, and the publication of Luther’s 95 Theses. And the cast of characters is larger, including his mentor, von Staupitz, his prince, Frederick the Wise, the slimy indulgence-peddling Tetzel, Cardinal Cajetan, Charles V. and all the rest.

The author could have made Luther’s kidnapping more exciting, I thought; after Luther’s trial at Worms, which left him branded as an outlaw, he was riding through the forest in the dead of night trying to get home alive, when suddenly from the shadows burst a band of horsemen who captured Luther and took him…no one knew where! All of Germany was asking whether Martin Luther was dead or alive, and it was months before either his friends or his enemies knew. (You’ll find out right away, though.)

The author was right, though, to focus more on what Luther did during his captivity than on his kidnapping, though it may not seem as exciting at first. Because what Luther did – and it changed history – was to translate the New Testament from Latin into German, the tongue of the common people, so that for the first time ordinary German people could read it for themselves. And German-speaking people are still reading the Luther translation today.

Luther’s marriage, teaching, and the spread of the Reformation into other countries are touched on briefly in the remainder of this beautifully-illustrated book. It’s a very nice introduction to the Reformation for a more mature audience than Katharine Von Bora.