One of my first decisions in planning The Magic Battery was to set it in 16th-century Germany. Germany, because that’s the part of Europe I know best. The 16th century, because it was a period of dramatic changes. Copernicus had set out a new view of the universe. Paracelsus had challenged long-held ideas in medicine. Luther had taken on the Catholic Church and divided Christendom.

Luther never appears “on stage” in my novel, but he is frequently mentioned and quoted. Many of the quotes that I use are real; the ones on magic are made up, but I tried to make them true to his character. The main source in my research was Lyndal Roper’s Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet. The book was also an excellent source on life in that period.
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