Although much has been written on the evangelical revival of the 18th century, J. C. Ryle's account remains the best popular introduction to this great spiritual era. With simplicity and vigour, he traces the lives of the eleven Christian leaders who 'shook England from one end to another', giving strong reasons for his belief 'that excepting Luther and his Continental contemporaries, and our own martyred Reformers, the world has seen no such men since the days of the apostles.' But Ryle does not write to prompt admiration, and his conclusions and applications of his subject are among the most forceful that ever came from his pen.
