<P>In the tumultuous seventeenth century religion was the crucial mainspring of action. This book examines how religion affected the day to day life of British people as well as society and politics on a much wider scale.</P><BR><UL><LI>Provides a detailed reconstruction of how ordinary people pursued their religions at home and in the church </LI><LI>Proposes a new framework for understanding the seventeenth century as a period of competition between rival religious values and ideas </LI><LI>Covers all of Britain, not just England </LI><LI>Easy-to-understand ? assumes no prior knowledge </LI><LI>One of the titles launching the new Longman <I>Religion, Politics and Society in Britain</I> series which examines religion in Britain from pre-Christian times to the end of the 20th century</LI></UL>