On the 500th anniversary of the Peasants' War in 2025, Luther biographer Lyndal Roper tells the story of the largest mass movement before the French Revolution. She brings the rebels and their utopia to life in an unparalleled way. What drove people to rise up against their lords? It was about what we still desire today: freedom, justice, and a good life. But it was also about more—a vision of a new, God-pleasing kingdom. Thus, they left their villages, camped in open fields, invaded monasteries, and indulged in the wine from their cellars. Inspired by the fervor of the Reformation, they did not follow the path of Martin Luther but were captivated by the sermons of the charismatic priest Thomas Müntzer. They swore oaths and lived in brotherhood, but they also demanded that the landowners not impose excessive labor duties on them and that they continue to have access to God's creation—they needed the wood from the forests and the fish from rivers and lakes, they wanted the right to hunt—and they wanted to receive the chalice of communion from the hands of the priest to drink from it. However, even though some nobles and knights joined them, they could not prevail against the overwhelming power of the landowners. Many of them died in the battle of Frankenhausen, while others were executed. The memory of this uprising had long faded, but Lyndal Roper shows that the utopia of the peasants and their view of nature and its resources are closer to us than we think. Opulently illustrated with 48 partly colored images.