During the 16th and 17th centuries various radical groups emerged which sought to break the medieval ties of church and state and restore the vision of the early church. This book provides a witty an lucid examination of the origins and development of these movements and considers their continuing legacy today. Pearse charts the rise and progress of continental Anabaptism both evangelical and heretical through the 16th century. He then follows the story of those English people who become impatient with Puritanism and separated first from the Church of England and then from one another to form the antecedents of later Congregationalists, Baptists and Quakers.