John Foxe (1516-1587) is recognized as one of the most important Christian historians. Exiled due to the persecutions in England during the reign of Mary the Bloody, upon his return, after the queen's death, he published his famous Book of Martyrs, a work that had such an impact on English society at the time that, until the appearance of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress in 1678, Puritans had no other reading material besides the Bible and the Book of Martyrs.
Many authors, such as Douglas Campbell and Henry Morley, believe that it helped shape the national character and the spirit of freedom in America, calling it "a monument marking the growing power of a desire for spiritual freedom, of defiance to all those forms that stifle conscience and shackle thought."
The book—expanded after Foxe's death—is a historical testimony to the persecutions unleashed against true Christians. The Spanish edition presents a complete compilation of the lives and testimonies of the most distinguished early martyrs and Protestant martyrs, from the time of the apostles to the missions of the late 19th century.
