''A compelling biography of one of the greatest men of the modern age. Stanford is particularly brilliant on the tensions inside Luther''s private and spiritual life. This is a very fine book written with a flourish. '' Melvyn Bragg The 31st of October 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther pinning his 95 ''Theses'' - or reform proposals - to the door of his local university church in Wittenberg. Most scholars now agree that the details of this eye-catching gesture are more legend than hammer and nails but what is certainly true is that on this day (probably in a letter to his local Archbishop in Mainz) the Augustinian Friar and theologian issued an outspokenly blunt challenge to his own Catholic Church to reform itself from within - especially over the sale of ''indulgences'' - which ultimately precipitated a huge religious and political upheaval right across Europe and divided mainstream Christianity ever after. A new popular biography from journalist Peter Stanford looking at Martin Luther from within his Catholic context examining his actual aims for Catholicism as well as his enduring legacy - and where he might fit within the church today. ''Peter Stanford makes the life of Luther into a thrilling narrative told from a modern Catholic perspective'' Antonia Fraser . Language: English