Wonderful Protestantism focuses on accounts of monstrous births published in England between the 1560s and 1660s, a period of English history fraught with both political and, importantly, instability religious. Tales of monstrous births, often used by modern scholars to demonstrate how naive and uncultured society was before the scientific revolution brought reason and dispelled wonder, are used by Crawford to demonstrate how these tales helped and often guided Protestant reformers in the face of a nation that had fallen into formidable factions. Monstrous births served many purposes, and aided by the printing press, the pamphlets which contained accounts of these strange births were used by Protestants and Catholics as ammunition in their fight. Throughout history, all cultures around the world have used and interpreted monstrous births as heavenly signs, using them to preach the wrath of God that will befall the community for perceived sins. However, it was quite generic, a “one-size-fits-all solution” if one wants to condemn the community as a whole. The environment in which England found itself after the Reformation did not allow such generalizations to be made. A Monstrous Birth was either a direct comment on the sin of the Catholic Church or a condemnation of Protestantism. Thus, the interpretation of these births echoed the religious battlefield that England had become. The births addressed "...particular controversies as they took place at particular times and in particular places." » (9) Crawford addresses throughout the book exactly what these wonderful stories address: social reform (especially morals), the errors of Catholicism, social dress. and vanity (aimed almost exclusively...... middle of paper ......ine Park worked and contributed to a broader understanding of the concern of these births, Crawford scrutinized not only when, who and why they were produced, but their use of propaganda by Protestants to preach and criticize Catholics is a positive result of his work: Crawford argues and highlights the widely held belief among some scholars that Protestantism lacked a strong visual culture is misleading because of the scholars' habit of focusing primarily on art, which was a Catholic domain. Pamphlets, with their woodcut illustrations, constituted their visual culture, designed for easy consumption and. Quick While Crawford points out that women were often the target of the sermons, she could have spent more time talking about the mothers of these creatures. Overall, the book is well presented, argued, and written...