First published in 1987, this book has been a primer for theological college students, undergraduates, lay readers and all interested in the history and development of Christianity.

Now published in a new and attractive edition with an updated bibliography, Diarmaid MacCulloch still manages to argue his case convincingly that history need not be boring. He takes his readers from the earliest days of the fledgling Christian Church to the end of the twentieth century and enables readers to put characters, movements and places in their wider context and make connections between them.