Introduction Guenther Roth; Part I. Background and Context: 1. The German theological sources and Protestant church politics Friedrich Wilhelm Graf; 2. The thesis before Weber: an archaeology Paul Munch; 3. Max Weber, Protestantism, and the debate around 1900 Thomas Nipperdey; 4. Weber the would-be Englishman: anglophilia and family history Guenther Roth; 5. Weber's historical concept of national identity Harry Liebersohn; 6. Nietzche's monastery of freer spirits and Weber's sect Hubert Treiber; 7. Weber's ascetic practices of the self Harvey Goldman; 8. The Protestant ethic versus the 'new ethic' Klaus Lichtblau; 9. The rise of capitalism: Weber versus Sombart Hartmut Lehmann; Part II. Reception and Response: 10. The longevity of the thesis: a critique of the critics Malcolm MacKinnon; 11. The use and abuse of textual data David Zaret; 12. Biographical evidence on predestination, covenant, and special providence Kaspar von Geryerz; 13. The thing that would not die: notes on refutation Guy Oakes; 14. Historical variability, sociological significance, and personal judgement Gianfranco Poggi; 15. The historiography of continental Calvinism Philip Benedict; 16. The Protestant ethic and the reality of capitalism in colonial America James Henretta; 17. The economic ethics of the world religions Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer; 18. Meet me in St Louis: Troeltsch and Weber in America Hans Rollmann; List of contributors; Index.

"...this volume represents a substantial contribution to the subject....The essays that deal with the context represent an especially welcome enlargement of information and insight for English-language readers of The Protestant Ethic who have until now lacked access to many of the German contextual materials." Contemporary Sociology