In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, thousands of ordinary women and men experienced evangelical conversion and turned to a certain form of spiritual autobiography to make sense of their lives. This book traces the rise and progress of conversion narrative as a unique form of spiritual autobiography in early modern England. After outlining the emergence of the genre in the seventeenth century and the revival of the form in the journals of the leaders of the Evangelical Revival, the central chapters of the book examine extensive archival sources to show the subtly different forms of narrative identity that appeared among Wesleyan Methodists, Moravians, Anglicans, Baptists, and others. Attentive to the unique voices of pastors and laypeople, women and men, Western and non-Western peoples, the book establishes the cultural conditions under which the genre proliferated.

D. Bruce Hindmarsh's profile page

D. Bruce Hindmarsh is James M. Houston Associate Professor of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver.

'Hindmarsh has provided historians of religion, scholars of life-writing and many others with an invaluable reference tool and a thorough survey of a neglected field.' Elspeth Jajdelska, Review of English Studies

'Hindmarsh's mastery of the disciplines of theology, history, and literary theory, together with his rigour and sound judgement, will command respect among secular scholars.' Colin Podmore, Church Times

'Hindmarsh's study is definitive in many respects, most notably in its breadth of vision, its analytical precision, and its evident compassion. . . . Both secular and religious scholars are lucky to have this magisterial study of conversion narratives as a guide to further reflection and research.' Phyllis Mack, American Historical Review

'Review from previous edition an absolutely excellent book, which will be required reading for the period.' W. R. Ward, Theology

'This book is hugely readable throughout . . . I certainly recommend this new work on the Evangelical Revival. Its immediate concern with spiritual autobiography makes the book interesting but not obscure.' Dan Peters, Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology