The Lives of the Puritans, 3 Volumes (Puritanism)

A Biographical Account of Those Divines Who Distinguished Themselves in the Cause of Religious Liberty from the Reformation under Queen Elizabeth to the Act of Uniformity in 1662

In 1813, Benjamin Brook, a church historian and Congregational minister, published his compilation of biographical sketches and bibliographies of many of the English Puritans. He provides a basic Puritan history of nonconformity from the Reformation to the Act of Uniformity (1662), followed by accounts of more than 450 Puritans. Full of fascinating historical detail and edifying anecdotes, Brooks opens windows through which we may observe divine grace transforming the inner man to walk in the footsteps of Christ. The set has been one of the most sought after and, at the same time, rarest to find on the used book market.

The Lives of the Puritans was first published in 1813 in London for Jack Black. The Soli Deo Gloria edition was first printed in 1994. It is now reprinted in 3 volumes.

Benjamin Brook (1776–1848) was a non-conformist minister and historian. In 1797, he entered Rotherham College as a student for the ministry. In 1801, he became the first pastor of the congregational church at Tutbury, Staffordshire. Brook wrote several other works, but is best known for his studies and writings on the Puritans. Brook resigned from the ministry in 1830 due to ill health. At the time of his death, he was gathering material for a history of Puritans who emigrated to New England. He died near Birmingham, January 5, 1848, at the age of 72.