This towering biography of Wesley remains the definitive work on the founder of Methodism. Its enduring strength is to set Wesley and his movement against the background of his time, so that we can see the political, social and religious influences on growing Methodism. Full attention is paid to contemporary figures: not only Charles Wesley and George Whitefield but also the Moravians and others whose movements influenced Methodism, both positively and negatively. John Wesley himself emerges as a truly human figure, with many weaknesses, not the least where women were concerned; and we are left to wonder that his work created a movement which has lasted for more than 250 years. This new and updated revision of the classic work incorporates several important new features. The introduction has been expanded and revised by the author to take account of new developments in the field, while the original bibliography and supplement of the second edition likewise have been substantially revised and updated. A new Preface is included, while in the main text of the book it is indicated where new work has filled the gaps in the original coverage. These improvements and adjustments mean that Rack's major achievement will now have a fresh lease of life and find an audience among all those who are keen to be acquainted with Wesley 'warts and all,' without the trammels of hagiography. Here indeed they are given Wesley the man, as alive and tangible as though he were standing before us today. 'Clearly the finest biography of the founder of Methodism written by an English scholar in the twentieth century. It is an indispensable and unavoidable summary of two generations of scholarship,'---The Methodist Recorder (U.K.) |
