Thomas More

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The Search for the Inner Man

Louis L. Martz

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Description Reviews

Recent writings about Thomas More have questioned his integrity and motivation and have challenged the long-held view of him as a humane, wise, and heroic "man for all seasons." This new book responds to these revisionist studies by closely and persuasively analyzing More's writings as well as Holbein's portraits of More and his family.

"Martz cuts down the revived charge of More as a bloodthirsty hunter of heretics, a furious, sexually repressed, and frustrated man. . . . This penetrating rebuttal of the revisionists deserves high commendation."—Choice

"Martz draws a compelling picture of More's attempts during his lonely imprisonment to adjust to his human fear of death and to see his own plight in the perspective of the universal human condition. In these essays More's voice and personality speak to us from his own literate and humorous prose."—M. Edmund Hussey, Antioch Review

"In his gracefully written Thomas More: The Search for the Inner Man, Louis L. Martz provides a sharply different account of the 'dark side' of More. . . . [He] lays out the case for a more complex, ironic construction of More's texts."—Stanley Stewart, Studies in English Literature

"This . . . book is a gemstone."—Terence R. Murphy, History: Reviews of New Books

"Correcting the view of Thomas More as a cold-blooded prosecutor of heresy, Martz here considers the gentle, affectionate, yet upright man pictured in Holbein's family portraits and implicit in More's prose."—Judith Fair, Theological Studies

"We need this lovely little book, this exquisite piece of art."—Journal of Psychology and Christianity

"An excellent little book that addresses a crucial and difficult period of More's life as successfully as any discussion yet in print."—Daniel Kinney, Albion

"Martz's book presents a positive image of More for modern readers who desire an alternative to the harsher critical evaluations of recent years. The best short introduction available to More's works written in the Tower."—Alistair Fox, University of Otago (New Zealand)

"A splendid antidote to revisionist charges that recently threatened to cloud the reputation of Thomas More. Martz concentrates on the evidence of More's intense struggle during a dark period of history to balance the demands of secular life and the demands of faith. Anyone interested in More, or, for that matter, in what religious faith is all about, will find this book deeply rewarding."—O. B. Hardison, Jr., Georgetown University

"Professor Martz in his book defends brilliantly the humane, wise, and heroic saint whose integrity and motivation in resisting his king have been questioned in recent writings."—Columbian Mission Magazine

"Louis Martz . . . is eminently qualified to speak for More. . . . Skillfully analyzing both Holbein's portraits of More and his family and the writings of More himself, Martz cuts down the revived charge of More as a bloodthirsty hunter of heretics, a furious, sexually repressed, and frustrated man. . . . This penetrating rebuttal of the revisionists deserves high commendation."—Choice

"This little book is a gemstone compressed and crystallized over the thirty years during which Louis L. Martz has served as chairman of the Editorial Board of the Yale Edition of the Complete Works of St. Thomas More."—Terence R. Murphy, History: Reviews of New Books

"Provide[s] a valuable foil to recent tendencies in the interpretation of this enigmatic man and it offers the reader effective guidance in exploring these neglected later works."—Dominic Baker-Smith, Renaissance Studies

ISBN: 9780300056686
Publication Date: August 19, 1992

123 pages, 5 x 9

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