This book examines the activities of William Blundell, a seventeenth-century Catholic gentleman, and using the approaches of the history of reading provides a detailed analysis of his mindset. The findings of the study challenge a historical determinism which removes Catholics from the mainstream of early-modern society.

Geoff Baker is Senior Academic Advisor at the Centre for Integrative Learning, University of Nottingham

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I:
1. William Blundell's family and friends
2. William Blundell and the wider world
Part II:
3. Reading and the construction of commonplaces
4. Reading the confessional divide in early modern England
5. A Catholic approach to the world
Conclusion
Appendix: Map of Little Crosby and surrounding area
Bibliography
Index