This volume investigates how the political and social shifts following the Revolution of 1688 fundamentally reshaped the religious landscape of England. Gordon Rupp, a distinguished historian of the church, utilizes primary ecclesiastical records and contemporary accounts to analyze the tension between the established Church of England and the burgeoning dissenting movements. The work argues that the era was defined by a complex, often contradictory, application of toleration that influenced the survival and development of various denominations.

Scholars recognize this work as a foundational text for understanding the nuances of eighteenth-century English religious history. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the author's meticulous attention to the theological and social complexities of the period.