Born in 1469, Erasmus was to many of his contemporaries the greatest scholar alive: a virtual modern Socrates, whose learning and wisdom had not been equaled for a thousand years. His collected works come to 86 large volumes, and we owe a massive amount of our ability to read various worthy works in our English tongue, to the work of Erasmus. Yet history has not been kind to this man.

Despite his phenomenal achievements, he is largely forgotten, eclipsed by the reformation work of Luther and Calvin. Still, those men knew that Erasmus’ influence was a preface which contributed powerfully to the Great Reformation. Finally, a British scholar has given us a long-overlooked glance at the man whose impact on history has been vastly underestimated.