The BBC History Extra podcast has an interview[1] with Professor Roper about her new book (the subject of the article), and she more or less agrees with your st

The BBC History Extra podcast has an interview[1] with Professor Roper about her new book (the subject of the article), and she more or less agrees with your statement about the likelihood of a Reformation with or without Luther, as does the review posted. However, there is much about the tone and vector of the Reformation that may have more to do with Luther's particular idiom than a pure attribution to technology would give credit for. It's difficult to choose either extreme when it comes to conversations about whether history is dictated by the acts of great people, or great people are merely byproducts of the inevitable current of history. I'd hesitate to get behind any single 'answer' to any of these questions. [1] http://www.historyextra.com/podcast/international-history/martin-luther-and-making-usa http://www.historyextra.com/podcast/international-history/ma...