Short History of Christianity - by Geoffrey Blainey (Paperback)

About the Book

Christianity has played a central role in world history, for better or worse, but beyond the story of Jesus, many people know little of this story. Geoffrey Blainey takes readers on a journey from the very beginnings of Christianity through to the current day.

Book Synopsis

Christianity has played a central role in world history, for better or worse, but beyond the story of Jesus, many people know little of this story. Geoffrey Blainey takes readers on a journey from the very beginnings of Christianity through to the current day.

Review Quotes

Australian historian Geoffrey Blainey has provided with his latest book a clear and dependable history of Christianity. This is not a scholar's reference work but a very accessible, engagingly readable story. It combines organizational detail and theological controversies with the sense of what it was like to be a Christian in different contexts over two thousand years. His history has a richly human quality without sentimentality or, for that matter, 'side-taking' in the debates and conflicts reported. . . . The need for a book like this is enormous in an age when ignorance about religions and Christianity is rising to a point where meaningful discourse about religion, faith, and belief is nearly impossible. I recommend it to each and all. Those who are not Christian would benefit from this balanced and unvarnished account of a monumentally influential religion. Christians would benefit from what only a study of history can bring: a counter to the ignorance which predisposes us to repeat past errors.

Blainey is an immensely gifted storyteller and teacher with an inexhaustible curiosity.

Few authors would be up to the task of writing a comprehensive history of one of the world's most widespread and diverse religions, but with this book, Australian historian Blainey (A Short History of the World) manages to create a narrative that is both scholarly and all-encompassing without being rambling or tedious. By beginning with the childhood and adolescence of Jesus, Blainey sets a tone that is almost biographical, crafting a reality and an intimacy with the major players in the development of Christianity (namely Paul, Constantine, and even an influential hermit, Peter Damian). This is an academic work to its core, eschewing any personal bias. Covering Christianity's inception to the modern church, it incorporates the surrounding world, including the rise of the prophet Muhammad and the religion of Islam and the influence that Judaism had not only on Christ but on his followers as well. With a conversational tone and an astonishing wealth of information compacted into more than 600 pages, this title is ideal for any pursuit, whether personal or scholarly. VERDICT An approachable, well-organized accounting of religion across the world that would suit scholars and lay readers alike.

In A Short History of Christianity, Geoffrey Blainey writes as a Christian but without dogma....If Christianity makes you want to scream, you won't like this book. Otherwise you should read it.

Noted Australian historian Blainey here turns his attention to the subject of Christianity, in a volume written in a very accessible, narrative style. All the major events, movements, and people in 2,000 years of Christian history are included, but Blainey also provides connections with politics (John F. Kennedy and Catholicism); other religions (St. Francis preaching to Muslims); literature (the origin of the term 'Scrooge'); historical events (the Wright brothers' influence on Christian missions); and popular culture (The Beatles' claim of being more popular than Jesus). The maps and index are excellent, and the chapter notes provide ample opportunities for further research. Blainey defines the target audience as 'a variety of general readers and also historians who work in other fields and have faint knowledge of Christian history.' Given its brevity and readability, this book would be an ideal introduction for those unfamiliar with Christianity, and for undergraduate students in history and religion courses. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and general readers.

About the Author

Geoffrey Blainey, one of Australia's most prominent historians, held a chair at Harvard University and taught for many years at the University of Melbourne. He has written thirty-seven books, including the best-selling A Short History of the World and A Short History of the 20th Century. The Oxford Companion to Australian History calls him "the most prolific, wide-ranging, inventive" of all living Australian historians.