A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years

Diarmaid MacCullochs epic acclaimed history A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years follows the story of Christianity around the globe from ancient Palestine to contemporary China. How did an obscure personality cult come to be the worlds biggest religion with a third of humanity its followers? This book now the most comprehensive and up to date single volume work in English describes not only the main facts ideas and personalities of Christian history its organization and spirituality but how it has changed politics sex and human society. Taking in wars empires reformers apostles sects churches and crusaders Diarmaid MacCulloch shows how Christianity has brought humanity to the most terrible acts of cruelty - and inspired its most sublime accomplishments. A stunning tour de force  Simon Sebag Montefiore Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year A landmark in its field astonishing in its range compulsively readable full of insight ... It will have few if any rivals in the English language   Rowan Williams Archbishop of Canterbury Guardian A prodigious thrilling masterclass of a history book   John Cornwell Financial Times Essential reading for those enthralled by Christianity and for those enraged by it  Melvyn Bragg Observer Books of the Year Magnificent ... a sumptuous portrait alive with detail and generous in judgement  Richard Holloway The Times Diarmaid MacCulloch is Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University. His Thomas Cranmer won the Whitbread Biography Prize the James Tait Black Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize. He is the author most recently of Reformation: Europes House Divided 1490 - 1700 which won the Wolfson Prize for History and the British Academy Prize. About the Author Diarmaid MacCulloch is Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University. HisThomas Cranmer (1996) won the Whitbread Biography Prize the James Tait Black Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize;Reformation: Europes House Divided 1490-1700 (2004) won the Wolfson Prize and the British Academy Prize.A History of Christianity (2010) which was adapted into a six-part BBC television series was awarded the Cundill and Hessel-Tiltman Prizes. His Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh were published in 2013 asSilence: A Christian History. His most recent television series (2015) wasSex and the Church. He was knighted in 2012.