A.G. Dickens is the most eminent English historian of the Reformation. His books and articles have illuminated both the history and the historiography of the Reformation in England and in Germany. Late Monasticism and the Reformation contains an edition of a poignant chronicle from the eve of the Reformation and a new collection of essays. The first part of the book is a reprint of his edition of The Chronicle of Butley Priory, only previously available in a small privately financed edition which has long been out of print. The last English monastic chronicle, it extends from the early years of the sixteenth century up to the Dissolution. Besides giving an intimate portrait of the community at Butley, it reveals many details concerning the local history and personalities of Suffolk during that period. The second part contains the most important essays published by A.G. Dickens since his Reformation Studies (1982). Their themes concern such areas of current interest as the strength and geographical distribution of English Protestantism before 1558; the place of anticlericalism in the English Reformation; and Luther as a humanist. Also included are some local studies including essays on the early Protestants of Northamptonshire and on the mock battle of 1554 fought by London schoolboys over religion.

The first sixteen essays of this volume are devoted to different aspects of the Yorkshire Reformation and Counter-Reformation. The second half of the volume is dedicated to essays on the contemporary historians of the Reformation, religious toleration, and the Reformation in France and Germany.