This second volume takes up the story where the first left off. Like its predecessor it has three features which make it different from other histories, so that it is aimed at the widest possible audience.

First, it does not separate church history from the wider history of the world in which it is set. Christians live in that wider world, and political, social and economic developments often determine the life of the church.

Secondly, it provides direct quotations from the written sources. To make sure that the account covers British and American, as well as French and European, history, an English-speaking historian joins the French author. 'The approach is ecumenical, covering with good balance the full range of denominational developments in the Western church and its missionary outreach ...In general this is a clear, well-written account ...the language is accessible not only to an adult but also to a student readership' (Expository Times).