We were diligent sowers of the seed, lighting the spark of war against those who had usurped the Word of God, the tormentors of His people. I saw scythes hammered into swords, hoes becoming lances and simple men leaving the plough to become fearless warriors. I saw a little carpenter carving a great crucifix and guiding Christ's troops like the captain of the most invincible army. I saw all this and I saw those men and women take up their own faith and turn it into a banner of revenge. Love seized our hearts with that one fire that flamed within us all; we were free and equal in the name of God, and we would smash the mountains, stop the world, kill all our tyrants in order to realise His kingdom of peace and brotherhood.

The protagonist starts off as a radical student at Wittenburg University, and becomes a soldier in the cause of religious reform, moving through Northern Europe, travelling under many different names and sometimes having to go into hiding. Despising the Lutherans as having become as much a part of the establishment as the Catholic church, he hooks up with the more extreme Anabaptists, travelling with various preachers and agitators, inciting peasants and townspeople to rebel against the aristocrats and merchants who oppress them. In later years, his methods become more indirect, as he perpetrates a fraud on the bankers who finance the people in power, and becomes involved in publishing and distributing a banned book, "The Benefit of Christ Crucified", in the hope of influencing the opinions of Catholic intellectuals and the more moderate cardinals and ensuring the election of a sympathetic pope, who will curb the powers of the inquisition.

Decades of intrigues and attacks, betrayals and retreats, rashness and remorse, are rushing together all of a sudden. The prophets and the king of a single, tragic day; cardinals and popes, and new popes; bankers, princes, merchants and preachers; men of letters, painters and spies, and counsellors and pimps. Everywhere, involving everyone, the same war.

The story covers nearly forty years of the Reformation, portraying it as social revolution as much as religious reform, if not more so. It skips backwards and forwards in time, but each of the short chapters is dated, so I found it easy to follow. Gert from the Well's story is interspersed with letters from the Catholic spy known as Q or Qoelet, who is working for the Vatican to counter the plots of its foes, whether they be Anabaptists, Lutherans or indeed the Holy Roman Emperor himself.

The name of the footballer Luther Blissett was used as a nom de plume by various artists and radicals around the world during the 1990s, as part of the loosly organised "Luther Blissett Project. "Q" was written by a collective of four Italian anarchists, who have since written another novel under the name Wu Ming.

It is an utterly fascinating story, which leaves the reader with lots to think about - what happened in Munster really reminded me of "Animal Farm". While I was reading the early parts of this book, I was also reminded me about the pet hen in "Sredni Vashtar" by Saki. The Houdan hen was never drawn into the cult of Sredni Vashtar. Conradin had long ago settled that she was an Anabaptist. He did not pretend to have the remotest knowledge as to what an Anabaptist was, but he privately hoped that it was dashing and not very respectable. I think Conradin should be very satisfied with his choice.

RELEASE NOTES:

To be released at the BookCrossing meet-up, and left on the bookshelves downstairs if no-one takes them.

I caught this at today's Nottingham meet-up. I'm intrigued to find out about this 'great novel'

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I'm afraid this didn't beat the 'page 69 rule' si it will have to go on its travels.

Left here on a very wet and windy day when i and the GG family popped in for a wet and a warm!

Please do a journal entry if you find the book so that i can follow its journey-Ta!