"...a fresh and methodical reading of the Baconian corpus that no future scholar will be able to ignore." Canadian Journal of history

"To my mind, this rich, complex study repays the effort that must be expended on it....Wormald shows what a vast, and at the same time flawed, intellectual giant Bacon was." A. Rupert Hall, Nature

"Wormald resists any fast flights to the easy, familiar generalizations about Bacon; rather throughout his study he remains centered in and on the texts of Bacon...To gain a formidable understanding of a past thinker, text and context must be brought together...to accomplish it with integrity and also advance our understanding is a test of any genujne, scholarly contribution...In opening a number of new vistas to Bacon, Wormald suceeds in this and to our benefit." Dominic J. Balestra, Sixteenth Century Journal

"Wormald's reading of Bacon's philosophy, and especially of the importance of the historical component within it, is often rewarding." F.J. Levy, Albion

"...this study represents a fresh look at Francis Bacon. Its argument possesses strength and persuasiveness based on a close examination of primary sources. It is a significant contribution." George Ouwendijk, Renaissance Quarterly