This new biography of Bunyan, published to celebrate the tercentenary of his death, offers a reassessment of the man against in the context of his times. Bunyan is usually studied and remembered as the author of "The Pilgrim's Progress", "Mr Badman" and "The Holy War", but his own consideration of himself would most probably have been as a preacher first and foremost - a man whose non-conformist religion led him into conflict with the Quakers and into years of imprisonment. It was in the service of this religion that his writings were produced, many of them during the nearly 12 years spent in Bedford jail between 1660 and 1672, though he continued to publish after his release. Christopher Hill, retired Master of Balliol, whose previous books include "Intellectual Origins of the English Revolution", sets Bunyan against the troubled background of the Commonwealth and the church and throws new light on his personality and the religious conflicts that resulted in his writings.