The first historical biography, for many decades, of Martin Luther (1483-1546), the rebellious monk who ushered in the modern world. As an acclaimed historian, Lyndal Roper explains how Luther's impact can only be understood against the background of the times. As a brilliant biographer, she gives us the flesh-and-blood figure and reveals the contradictory psychological forces that drove Luther. Published to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation.