Formerly Professor of English, University of Urbino, Italy; Dr C. Louise Thijssen-Schoute Professor of the History of Ideas, University of Leiden, Holland, since 1986; Professor of the History of the Radical Reformation, University of Amsterdam, since 1987

• 1. From the Church Fathers to the Renaissance ; 2. Prophecy and Kabbalism ; 3. Official Attitudes ; 4. Catholic Responses ; 5. The Radical Solution: The Anabaptists ; 6. A Broad Tradition of Dissent ; 7. Rosicrucians, New Prophets and the Thirty Years War ; 8. Radical Pietism and Eirenic Mysticism ; 9. Of Monsters, Indians and Jews ; 10. Controversialists and Scholars ; 11. England and the Arabic Version ; 12. The Aftermath ; Conclusion ; Appendix: 2 Esdras ; Bibliography ; Index of Biblical Passages ; General index

This is a fascinating account of the reception history of Second Esdras that superbly highlights the complex relationship between texts and their interpreters ... Hamilton's study will be welcomed by all kinds of specialists, not least because of his impressive command of the relevant sources and their historical settings. His lucid summaries are always accompanied by pertinent quotations in their original languages - no mean feat, given the range of languages involved!