Competent but rather dull. Boynton's shifts from commentary to quotation (or a summary of Luther's and others' positions and writings) are not well-marked. His copious endnotes are not actually noted in the text, but left for the reader to find out; there are several for just about every page. ( )

A fantastic biography of Martin Luther. This is the standard against which all others are measured. ( )

Its funny to think that the Protestant religion - today, at least, a moderate and forward-looking religion - is based on the writings of this man, one of the evilest human beings that ever lived. He was also the acknowledged inspiration for the Nazi party which should tell you plenty of his sentiments on race and the value of life. Not only did he advocate violence against Jews but was behind the Peasants' War where thousands died, and all because he felt that men should not ape their betters nor expect to improve their station in life but accept whatever lowly status they may be born into and serve their betters cheerfully. He was, needless to say, in the pay of the aristocratic class he so felt he belonged to. Naturally this book is not required reading for Protestants in Sunday school. ( )

A must read for any Christian that has not neglected their history. A romanticized look at the incredible life of Martin Luther. A classic work indeed. ( )

This book does suffer from a couple of flaws. First, this is probably not the most scholarly biography of Luther, and the citations aren't formatted in a very convenient way. The only citations given for quotations from Luther himself are page numbers in a German-language edition of his collected works, which is troublesome if you'd like to know which of his writings a particular quotation came from. Second, Bainton (who was a Protestant minister, though not a Lutheran specifically) was clearly biased in Luther's favor -- maybe not to the point of making important omissions, but certainly to the point of glossing over or rationalizing away some of Luther's more repugnant statements.

Nevertheless, I do recommend Bainton's book for the simple reason that he was an excellent writer, and he paints a vivid, engrossing picture of Martin Luther's personality and thought without crossing the line into confabulation. I'm no kind of expert in this field, but I have glanced at the easily available biographies of Luther, and I think this is a good one -- probably the best choice for the interested general reader who lacks the time or inclination to get through something denser. (It is my understanding that Heiko Oberman's book has become the standard academic text, but also that it assumes some background, so this one might be a good starting point in any case.)