The Access to History series is the most popular and trusted series for AS and A level history students, combining all the strengths of this well-loved series with features that allow all students access to the content and study skills needed to achieve exam success. Features include: AS questions and exam tips; Definitions of key terms; Summaries of key historical debates. This edition has been thoroughly revised to meet the needs of the 2008 AS specifications for OCR and Edexcel. It examines the background to the German Reformation and the factors which led to it. It then goes on to analyse the ideas and influence of Luther, how his ideas spread within and beyond Germany, and the political and religious context in which these changes took place. Throughout the book key dates, terms and issues are highlighted, and historical interpretations of key debates are outlined. Summary diagrams are included to consolidate knowledge and understanding of the period, and exam-style questions and tips written by examiners for the OCR and Edexcel exam specifications provide the opportunity to develop exam skills.

“A colorful introduction to one of the most influential businessmen in history” (The New York Times Book Review), Jacob Fugger—the Renaissance banker “who wrote the playbook for everyone who keeps score with money” (Bryan Burrough, author of Days of Rage). In the days when Columbus sailed the ocean and Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, a German banker named Jacob Fugger became the richest man in history. Fugger lived in Germany at the turn of the sixteenth century, the grandson of a peasant. By the time he died, his fortune amounted to nearly two percent of European GDP. In an era when kings had unlimited power, Fugger dared to stare down heads of state and ask them to pay back their loans—with interest. It was this coolness and self-assurance, along with his inexhaustible ambition, that made him not only the richest man ever, but a force of history as well. Before Fugger came along it was illegal under church law to charge interest on loans, but he got the Pope to change that. He also helped trigger the Reformation and likely funded Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe. His creation of a news service gave him an information edge over his rivals and customers and earned Fugger a footnote in the history of journalism. And he took Austria’s Habsburg family from being second-tier sovereigns to rulers of the first empire where the sun never set. “Enjoyable…readable and fast-paced” (The Wall Street Journal), The Richest Man Who Ever Lived is more than a tale about the most influential businessman of all time. It is a story about palace intrigue, knights in battle, family tragedy and triumph, and a violent clash between the one percent and everybody else. “The tale of Fugger’s aspiration, ruthlessness, and greed is riveting” (The Economist).

Planned with the A-level student specifically in mind, the "Access to History" series is designed to be expansive enough so that re-reading of condensed narrative is not required. This book looks at the background to the Reformation, Luther's teachings, Zwingli and the Anabaptists.

The first survey to utilise the approaches of the new cultural history in analysing how Reformation Europe came about.