Waite's biography of Joris concentrates on his career as a DutchAnabaptist instead of his later, better-known activity as a Spiritualistin Basel. Waite argues convincingly that, from 1536 to 1539, Joris wasthe most influential Anabaptist leader in the Netherlands. Adopting amiddle path between the revolutionary chiliasm of the M?nsterAnabaptist kingdom and the radical separatism of Menno Simons and hisflock, Joris sought to unite the splintered Melchiorite movement underhis leadership. However, as Waite notes, history has been unkind to Joris: largelyignored by historians (the last book-length biography to deal with hiscareer as an Anabaptist was published in Germany in 1937), he hasgenerally been portrayed in the light of his opponents' polemics.Nonetheless, interest in Joris has revived in recent years, and thisbook answers the calls of historians of Anabaptism for a balancedreassessment. Waite discusses Joris's life and the movement he led, within theframework of the most recent interpretations of Anabaptism and of theReformation generally. He rejects the narrow definition of"Evangelical Anabaptism" developed by Mennonite historians andemphasizes instead the movement's broad nature and pluriformity, andits relationships to the popular Reformation. Joris's spiritualdevelopment from Sacramentarianism to Anabaptism and finally toSpiritualism is remarkably well suited to this purpose. Waite also investigates the socioeconomic backgrounds of Joris'sfollowers, and the relationship of his movement to other Anabaptistgroups in northern Germany and the Netherlands. This research yieldssome interesting insights into the nature of early modern religiousdissent, and the lives of the dissenters. This book has important implications for our understanding not only ofJoris but also of northern German and Dutch Anabaptism.