' ... a refreshing contribution to recent Romantic studies'. Jon Mee, Romanticism on the Net 'This well-written book is an important contribution to studies of romantic-period literature for an unusual combination of reasons. The Romantic Reformation takes for its topics two that have been widely believed to be important as long as there have been studies of romantic-period literature: the writers' treatments of religion, and the question of the writers' religious beliefs ... The Romantic Reformation displays throughout an integrity of scholarly purpose and a profound respect for its subject matter, voicing honest doubt, for example, rather than histrionics or dogma. While the achieved clarity of this book's prose opens the argument to a readership outside the small circle of specialists, the honesty and restraint of its method are exemplary.' Terence Allan Hoagwood, Texas A&M University '... a much needed challenge to some firmly established views of British Romanticism. Foremost among these is the modernity of the Romantics ... It is the virtue of Robert Ryan's important book to call our attention to the religious resonances that extend through Romantic culture, and to the tendencey of the Romantics to view religion in terms of hope for the future.' The Wordsworth Circle