I was never a fan of Church history in school, but I’ve come to realize that this was really the textbook’s fault. It was a series of dry and weary titles, with lots of dates and facts, but no story to them. So I owe a debt of thanks to Douglas Bond for reviving my interest in what is really a most important topic, and he has done so by telling great stories.

Sometimes, as he has in this novel, that story-telling involves weaving in fiction among the facts, so I can just imagine someone saying, “But then you’re not really learning Church history, are you? Not if lots of it is made up!” Ah yes, but I know more Church history than I once did, and it was painless!

And what’s more, Bond’s fictionalized biographies – he’s tackled Calvin, Knox, C.S. Lewis, and now Wycliffe – left me wanting to know more about these men. So after read a Bond book I’ve followed it up with reading non-fiction books about, or by, all of them. My old Church history textbook never inspired me to do that!

In The Revolt, Bond takes on an early Reformer, John Wycliffe, who lived and died more than 100 years before Martin Luther nailed up his 95 theses. Like Luther, Wycliffe was a man very much on his own – he had followers, but not really colleagues. He was the trailblazer who decided that, contrary to what the Pope and Church have pronounced, the common people needed to hear the Bible in their own tongue. One thing he had going for himself is that he lived in a time when there were two popes at the same time, which made it easier to question the need for submission to the pope.

Wycliffe doesn’t actually show up until page 62, so this is more a book about the England of his time than about him. The story begins with a young scholar on the battlefields of France, where the English army is surrounded by a much larger French force. The scholar has been assigned the task of recording the events, so while everyone else has a bow, or a battle axe, or something with some sort of sharp steel end, he is armed only with his quill. It’s a great beginning, and from then on we follow along with this scholar who serves as the story’s narrator. Through him we meet peasants, other scholars, and finally Wycliffe himself.

The Revolt is a novel most any adult would find an easy and enjoyable read. I’m not sure, though, that this would be a good book for a teenager who is only a casual reader. It is a very good story, but it’s not the non-stop “thrill ride” that so many Young Adult books try to be these days. To put it another way, this is far from a heavy read, but it’s also not a light read either.

However, for anyone with any interest in Church history, this is an ideal way to learn more. I sure hope Douglas Bond keeps on coming up with these great fictionalized “biographies”!