In First Among Friends, the first scholarly biography of George Fox (1624-91), H. Larry Ingle examines the fascinating life of the reformation leader and founding organizer of the Religious Society of Friends, more popularly known today as the Quakers. Ingle places Fox within the upheavals of the English Civil Wars, Revolution, and Restoration, showing him and his band of "rude" disciples challenging the status quo, particularly during the Cromwellian Interregnum. This insightful study uses broad research in contemporary manuscripts and pamphlets, many never examined systematically before. It chronicles Fox's extensive travels within England itself, in Europe and to the New World. It does not, however, concentrate solely on public matters. It also depicts Fox as a determined man tortured by periodic depressions and at odds with his society
The book presents a more complete picture of Fox's character than has ever been portrayed before and includes an assessment of his relations with his wife and coworker, Margaret Fell.
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