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Zealous: A Darker Side of the Early Quakers
The mid-seventeenth century was a tumultuous time, and out of the chaos, Quakerism was born. A Darker Side of the Early Quakers tells a different side to this story.
The Civil Wars touched all corners of England, Scotland, and Wales; the people of the ‘poor, almost wasted Kingdom’ were war-weary, miserable, and in total ruin. Years of conflict left the people in utter desperation. Communities were pillaged, torn apart, and irrevocably changed. And then, in September 1651, it was over. What remained was a tattered landscape, an uncertain political future, religious upheaval, and emotional trauma.
Amongst the turmoil, a new religious movement started in the north of England.
The early Quakers were a group of people led by charismatic preachers wholly convinced that it was their responsibility to save as many souls as possible. Their means of convincing others to be saved ranged from attempting to perform miracles (and failing) to deeply antisocial behaviour (e.g., walking naked through busy towns) to infuriating local authorities (e.g., refusing to abide by the law and being repeatedly jailed).
The early Quakers were standing on shifting sands during a very uncertain time. Throughout history, fear has always compelled people to do just about anything to feel safe and secure. Their zeal led them to challenge what they saw as an impure world. They were willing to die for their beliefs, and on occasion, they would commit unspeakable acts in the name of God.
The Civil Wars touched all corners of England, Scotland, and Wales; the people of the ‘poor, almost wasted Kingdom’ were war-weary, miserable, and in total ruin. Years of conflict left the people in utter desperation. Communities were pillaged, torn apart, and irrevocably changed. And then, in September 1651, it was over. What remained was a tattered landscape, an uncertain political future, religious upheaval, and emotional trauma.
Amongst the turmoil, a new religious movement started in the north of England.
The early Quakers were a group of people led by charismatic preachers wholly convinced that it was their responsibility to save as many souls as possible. Their means of convincing others to be saved ranged from attempting to perform miracles (and failing) to deeply antisocial behaviour (e.g., walking naked through busy towns) to infuriating local authorities (e.g., refusing to abide by the law and being repeatedly jailed).
The early Quakers were standing on shifting sands during a very uncertain time. Throughout history, fear has always compelled people to do just about anything to feel safe and secure. Their zeal led them to challenge what they saw as an impure world. They were willing to die for their beliefs, and on occasion, they would commit unspeakable acts in the name of God.
232 pages, Hardcover
Published November 25, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 6, 2025
Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free Kindle book. My review is voluntarily given, and my opinions are my own.
I was expecting a bit more with the title, thinking maybe there were Quakers out there committing murders in a holy war that I hadn't heard of somehow. Which just the thought of that seems wild. 🤔
Really though, the book was extremely interesting. Having grown up evangelical, it really didn't surprise me that the Quakers would be spending their time trying to save souls and thinking they were in the End Times. Once you leave the church, it's amazing how many similarities you can see between the different religions and denominations.
This book was extremely interesting and well researched. I will be looking for more books by this author. Would definitely recommend!
I was expecting a bit more with the title, thinking maybe there were Quakers out there committing murders in a holy war that I hadn't heard of somehow. Which just the thought of that seems wild. 🤔
Really though, the book was extremely interesting. Having grown up evangelical, it really didn't surprise me that the Quakers would be spending their time trying to save souls and thinking they were in the End Times. Once you leave the church, it's amazing how many similarities you can see between the different religions and denominations.
This book was extremely interesting and well researched. I will be looking for more books by this author. Would definitely recommend!
September 10, 2025
This book is a history of the foundation of the Quaker religion, and to a lesser extent the English Civil War and the Dissenters more generally.
It details the growth of the Protestant denomination through the antics of several of its adherents, some foundational today, others not so much.
Spoilers for English history I guess but the 'darker side' here is the radicalism of the Quaker religion. This is not religious radicalism in the way that the contemporary mind would think of it. Mostly. But as religion and civil society were wholly intertwined, as both factions of the Civil War embraced the same religion, and as everyone considered every other denomination to be secret Catholics, the sort of material deviations based on doctrine that would go unnoticed in our present world of purposeful individualism in Protestantism (in the U.S. at any rate, where the skills to plant a church seem more related to whether you have good enough credit to rent the storefront in the strip mall) in a world of intentionally non-religious civic institutions, matter a lot. Like capital punishment based on your hat etiquette a lot.
The 'mostly' up there is doing two things. First, it has to be said the degree to which contemporary political life moves towards affirming more strict religious doctrine as its fundamentals means that there are people who are not going to see this sort of thing as weird as much as an instruction book for how to go back to oppressing people for their beliefs. Second, and willfully burying the lede, it ignores the resurrection spells. There are occasional points of extreme religious belief not customarily associated with the Quakers or Protestant denominations. But it is common to religious expressions, and frankly all religions are weird from the outside.
There is a run at a thesis at the end that suggests that the movement away from a lot of these ideas was a conscious one on the part of the Quakers to moderate their image, which in turn allowed their message to spread. That seems somewhat post hoc to me, and there is not much provided in evidence. We know that it happened, but the gist of that idea is why some of the dissenters went on to become core constituencies and others faded to history. That seems to me an entirely different book.
But tuning out that and the conspiracy-theory loving title, it is a great microhistory. The intellectual and social development of a religion is great stuff.
My thanks to the author, Erica Canela, for writing the book, and to the publisher, Pen and Sword History, for making the ARC available to me.
It details the growth of the Protestant denomination through the antics of several of its adherents, some foundational today, others not so much.
Spoilers for English history I guess but the 'darker side' here is the radicalism of the Quaker religion. This is not religious radicalism in the way that the contemporary mind would think of it. Mostly. But as religion and civil society were wholly intertwined, as both factions of the Civil War embraced the same religion, and as everyone considered every other denomination to be secret Catholics, the sort of material deviations based on doctrine that would go unnoticed in our present world of purposeful individualism in Protestantism (in the U.S. at any rate, where the skills to plant a church seem more related to whether you have good enough credit to rent the storefront in the strip mall) in a world of intentionally non-religious civic institutions, matter a lot. Like capital punishment based on your hat etiquette a lot.
The 'mostly' up there is doing two things. First, it has to be said the degree to which contemporary political life moves towards affirming more strict religious doctrine as its fundamentals means that there are people who are not going to see this sort of thing as weird as much as an instruction book for how to go back to oppressing people for their beliefs. Second, and willfully burying the lede, it ignores the resurrection spells. There are occasional points of extreme religious belief not customarily associated with the Quakers or Protestant denominations. But it is common to religious expressions, and frankly all religions are weird from the outside.
There is a run at a thesis at the end that suggests that the movement away from a lot of these ideas was a conscious one on the part of the Quakers to moderate their image, which in turn allowed their message to spread. That seems somewhat post hoc to me, and there is not much provided in evidence. We know that it happened, but the gist of that idea is why some of the dissenters went on to become core constituencies and others faded to history. That seems to me an entirely different book.
But tuning out that and the conspiracy-theory loving title, it is a great microhistory. The intellectual and social development of a religion is great stuff.
My thanks to the author, Erica Canela, for writing the book, and to the publisher, Pen and Sword History, for making the ARC available to me.
September 24, 2025
Quakerism was born and grew rapidly in England in the mid-seventeenth century. Coming out of the landscape of a decade of civil war, political and religious upheaval - the Quakers were led by charismatic men and women largely from the North of the country, preaching radical ideas to a weary and desperate public. There were a number of 'dissenting' groups at the time in terms of religion of which the Quakers were one - their ideals and beliefs however, took hold in ways that most others never achieved.
Although well written and very well researched, I found this book quite hard to engage with. It focuses on two specific English counties - Herefordshire and Worcestershire - which I thought lent it a more personal feel than trying to look at England as a whole. The book is very short; and while that can be a boon in a non-fiction title, here I think it damages things a little - it leads to very rapid pacing, a lot of information being thrown at the reader at once and there are possibly a few too many primary source quotes in the text for a book so short. If the reader was a complete novice to the subject I think this would be a great starting point for further research but would also be quite hard to follow.
I would say that the title is misleading. Rather than showing 'a darker side' to the Quakers, it would be more accurate to say that this is a look at the tumultuous beginnings of a religious movement which endures even today.
- Thanks to NetGalley for granting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review -
Although well written and very well researched, I found this book quite hard to engage with. It focuses on two specific English counties - Herefordshire and Worcestershire - which I thought lent it a more personal feel than trying to look at England as a whole. The book is very short; and while that can be a boon in a non-fiction title, here I think it damages things a little - it leads to very rapid pacing, a lot of information being thrown at the reader at once and there are possibly a few too many primary source quotes in the text for a book so short. If the reader was a complete novice to the subject I think this would be a great starting point for further research but would also be quite hard to follow.
I would say that the title is misleading. Rather than showing 'a darker side' to the Quakers, it would be more accurate to say that this is a look at the tumultuous beginnings of a religious movement which endures even today.
- Thanks to NetGalley for granting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review -
September 9, 2025
Another niche topic I may never use in my life, work, or writings but totally want to read about? SIGN ME UP.
From the British Civil Wars to the foundations of Quakerism and multiple (failed) attempts to raise the dead, Zealous: A Darker Side of the Early Quakers breathes life into the small religious sect in the greater British historical context.
With a title like this, I was expecting a band of Quakers committing heinous acts in the name of their faith. Instead, it’s mostly apocalyptic. Then again, in mid-17th century Britain, that kind of chaos was basically par for the course. While most denominations within Christianity believe any moment could be the moment where the world ends, these folks took it to the next level.
As a whole, this book tries to balance the line between academic research paper and narrative storytelling. Personally, I would say this falls on the academic side of things. Dr. Canela's dedication and meticulous research into this topic shines through.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Pen and Sword History for the ARC in exchange for a review! I may not have found this book otherwise and I really liked it!
As an aside…the “Golden Age of Apples” reminds me I should plan a trip to my local apple orchard.
From the British Civil Wars to the foundations of Quakerism and multiple (failed) attempts to raise the dead, Zealous: A Darker Side of the Early Quakers breathes life into the small religious sect in the greater British historical context.
With a title like this, I was expecting a band of Quakers committing heinous acts in the name of their faith. Instead, it’s mostly apocalyptic. Then again, in mid-17th century Britain, that kind of chaos was basically par for the course. While most denominations within Christianity believe any moment could be the moment where the world ends, these folks took it to the next level.
As a whole, this book tries to balance the line between academic research paper and narrative storytelling. Personally, I would say this falls on the academic side of things. Dr. Canela's dedication and meticulous research into this topic shines through.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Pen and Sword History for the ARC in exchange for a review! I may not have found this book otherwise and I really liked it!
As an aside…the “Golden Age of Apples” reminds me I should plan a trip to my local apple orchard.
October 10, 2025
You can immediately tell that Canela is passionate about her subject and that enthusiasm really shines through her work. In Canela's capable hands, the tumultuous early history of the Quakers comes to life in stunning fashion - you won't think of Quakers the same way ever again!
[Full review on The Seventeenth Century Lady]
[Full review on The Seventeenth Century Lady]
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews