Reformation England, 14801642. By Peter Marshall. (Reading History.) Pp. xiii+241. London: Arnold, 2003. 50 (cloth), 14.99 (paper). 0 340 70623 6; 0 340 70624 4 (original) (raw)

2004, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History

The Oxford classical dictionary is an exceptionally rich one-volume, multi-author encyclopaedia which covers all aspects of Graeco-Roman antiquity and much else besides, providing (economical) bibliographies at the end of almost every article. The editors who undertook and completed the Herculean task of producing a third edition fully deserve the thanks and praise widely accorded to them, for the result of their labours is indeed a triumph. Its 6,250 entries by 364 scholars regale the reader with authoritative information on subjects as diverse as Attila and Aristotle, Babylon and Boethius, capitalism and chastity, or even Zeus and Zoroaster. As its preface declares, the third edition (1996, revised, i.e. with minor changes, 2003) deliberately differs from the previous ones of 1949 and 1970 in several respects, all of which can be praised without reserve. It has been rendered more accessible through the translation of the ancient languages, and more user-friendly by widespread cross-referencing. It has gained in quality through the editors' determination to 'secure the best experts on the topics covered, wherever in the world they happened to be '. It also includes some 700 new entries. These attest to the third edition's determination to be interdisciplinary (for example ' economic theory, Greek '), and reflect a new solicitousness in offering readers survey articles containing useful cross-references (for example ' technology '). More specifically, inadequacies in coverage have been set to rights for women, Judaism and the Near East. The third edition includes a substantial number of new entries of interest to ecclesiastical historians. For Christian authors and literature we note : apologists, Christian ; Paul, St ; Acts of the Apostles ; apocalyptic literature ; Boethius' musical writings ; epic, biblical ; Epistle to Diognitus; Latin, medieval, literary ; Chronicon Paschale ; Seven Wonders of the Ancient World ; Ambrosiaster ; Theophilus (2) of Antioch ; Paulinus (2) of Pella ; Maximianus ; Tatian ; Methodius ; Didascalia apostolorum. For early Christian beliefs and practices : pilgrimage, Christian ; cemeteries ; chastity ; asceticism ; churches ; statues, cult of (includes 'Judaeo-Christian ' section). For 'heresies ' : Naaseenes; Arianism. Students of the early Church will also welcome new entries on many related themes. Thus, the rising interest in the relationship between Christian and pagan healing (see, for example, Hector Avalos, Health care and the rise of Christianity, 1999) is well served by entries on the following subjects: body ; gynaecology ; hysteria ;