There's not a lot to fault here. The fascinating story occasionally gets bogged down in religious terminology and you may need a scorecard to keep track of all the various players art some point, but McCulloch's narrative is compelling and fair. This is not a book about the truth of the bible or the integrity of biblical text, although it touches upon those matters. It is more a book about the beginnings of the Christian Church, its success in putting down early heresies, then its later splits into Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant (and all the sub-varieties within at least the last two of these.) Along the way a modern reader should be repulsed by the violence committed in the name of religion--I won't even say in the name of god, although I'm an atheist, since it is so clearly about preserving the hegemony of one church or another. McCulloch tries to point out good things along the way, and a few folks do emerge as principled and thinking. But the church leadership (see The Bad Popes for some good examples) is often out of touch with reality. Infallibility? Give me a break. The last part of the book focuses on the changing nature of Christianity after its separation from government. McCulloch makes some hopeful noises, and yes, despite those of us who just wish it would go away, religion still holds a central part in the lives of people all over the world, including well over two billion Christians. I just have to be honest and admit that they are going to outlast me. But books like this do provide a better understanding of and even some enjoyment in Christianity. ( )

Contents: "A millennium of beginnings (1000 BCE-100 CE). Greece and Rome (c. 1000 BCE-100 CE) ; Israel (c. 1000 BCE-100 CE) -- One Church, one faith, one Lord? (4 BCE-451 CE). A crucified messiah (4 BCE-100 CE) ; Boundaries defined (50 CE-300) ; The Prince : ally or enemy? (100-300) ; The Imperial Church (300-451) -- Vanishing futures : East and South (451-1500). Defying Chalcedon : Asia and Africa (451-622) ; Islam : the great realignment (622-1500) -- The unpredictable rise of Rome (300-1300). The making of Latin Christianity (300-500) ; Latin Christendom : new frontiers (500-1000) ; The West : universal emperor or universal pope? (900-1200) ; A Church for all people? (1100-1300) -- Orthodoxy : the Imperial faith (451-1800). Faith in a new Rome (451-900) ; Orthodoxy : more than an empire (900-1700) ; Russia : the third Rome (900-1800) -- Western Christianity dismembered (1300-1800). Perspectives on the true Church (1300-1517) ; A house divided (1517-1660) ; Rome's renewal (1500-1700) ; A worldwide faith (1500-1800) ; Protestant awakenings (1600-1800) -- God in the dock (1492-present). Enlightenment : ally or enemy? (1492-1815) ; Europe re-enchanted or disenchanted? (1815-1914) ; To make the world Protestant (1700-1914) ; Not peace but a sword (1914-60) ; Culture wars (1960-present)." Bibliography: p. 1098. Includes bibliographical references and indices.

This was a rather long and rambling history. To be fair, any history that is trying to cover so much is likely to be so, but I came away feeling that I learned very little because there was no structure to stick the information to. It was just 40 hours (audio version) of fact after fact after fact.

As a casual reader of history, I want my history woven onto some framework. Not forced into it, but given enough consistent presentation that the reader can build a mental model. Of course, the choice of any such framework is going to necessarily mean that some things are left out, but the reader will remember more.

To be more concrete, with respect to this book, MacCulloch tried to cover both Christianity in its context as a mover of European history and many of the theological debates over Christianity's history (as well as much more). If he had just stuck to one -- e.g., the European historical perspective, bringing in the theological debates only when they effect the political situation -- then the book would have been more coherent.

Overall, I've gotten much more pleasure out of the more narrow histories I have read, such as Karen Armstrong's [b:The Bible A Biography|520771|The Bible A Biography|Karen Armstrong|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328774634s/520771.jpg|1980253]. They don't cover nearly so much, but they are actually memorable. ( )

This book is a dense tome of christian history and as comprehensive and extensive as it is, you'll probably need to re-read it. There are just too many strands of history and theology interwoven to have it all stick on one read through. The book should be read side by side with a history of Europe, since the evolution of christianity is so closely linked to the historical political changes, however MacCulloch doesn't make the mistake of seeing everything through the "politics through other means" lens (until, arguably, the end of the book). Theological changes are allowed to be the origin of political change and movements, rather than the reverse.

The weakest part of the book is clearly the last that extends into modern history where it becomes wrapped up in the politics of near history and doesn't have the page count and depth left to substantiate much of what it claims. But it is easily forgivable given the very readable and comprehensive history that precedes it. ( )

Dairmaid MacCulloch has written the most complete and comprehensive history of Christianity I have ever seen. Unlike so many authors who follow the trail of their own particular expression of Christianity MacCulloch follows every trail including the ones that dead ended and those that left just small isolated unique communities. I thought I had a sound handle on Christian history but I learned more than a few things from this book. I particularly learned more about those expressions that the dominate elements labeled heresy. This author does not pass judgement on which expressions of Christianity are right or wrong and I appreciated that. The book drags in places and some passages are quite dry, it took me a long time to finish, but I was worth the work. I am sorry this book was not available when I was a seminarian. ( )