Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World-Fast Shipping

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Out of the Flames is an extraordinary story – providing testament to the power of ideas, the enduring legacy of books, and the triumph of individual courage.

Out of the Flames tracksthe history of The Chrisitianismi Restituto, examining Michael Servetus’s life and times and the politicsof the first information during the sixteenth century. The Chrisitianismi Restituto, a heretical workof biblical scholarship, written in 1553, aimed to refute the orthodox Christianitythat Michael Servetus’ old colleague, John Calvin, supported. After the book spread throughthe ranks of Protestant hierarchy, Servetus was tried and agonizingly burned at thestake, the last known copy of the Restitutio chained to his leg.

Servetus’s execution marked a turning point in the quest for freedom of expression,due largely to the development of the printing press and the proliferation of booksin Renaissance Europe. Three copies of the Restitutio managed to survive the burning,despite every effort on the part of his enemies to destroy them. As a result, thebook became almost a surrogate for its author, going into hiding and relying on covertdistribution until it could be read freely, centuries later.

Lawrence and Nancy Goldstonefollow the clandestine journey of the three copies through the subsequent centuriesand explore its author’s legacy and influence over the thinkers that shared his spiritand genius, such as Leibniz, Voltaire, Rousseau, Jefferson, Clarence Dorrow, andWilliam Osler.