This book was conceived in 1991, when I made my first visit to Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, as it was then called. Standing in front of one of the display cases in the Lutherhalle Museum, I came face to face with a cascade of Flugschriften. The visual impact of this great heap of Reformation writings, piled up seemingly at random, was very strong, and set me musing on the contemporary impact of such literature: the extraordinarily innovative manner in which the Reformation made its appeal for public support, and the manner, perhaps very different, in which this appeal was received. I have been ruminating on these questions ever since, even as other writing projects have directed my immediate attention to more specific tasks. This book is an attempt to give these thoughts some sort of systematic expression. With the passage of years since 1991 I have obviously read and learned a very great deal, working primarily on the experience of Reformation in four main areas: Germany, the Netherlands, France and the two kingdoms of Britain, England and Scotland. Much of this has been learned through the guidance of friends and professional colleagues, and it is a pleasure to acknowledge here the help and inspiration of scholars on both sides of the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. Many people have guided my exploration of the various literary disciplines and media explored in this volume.