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elzbethmrgn's Reviews (667)
I bought this for bedtime reading and while some of it is interesting, the style and the majority of it is eh. Not recommended unless you need it for research.
Sadly, this is the version Montague Summers got his hands on, and so it isn't the full, original text. But, for a readable and quick-reference-able version, it's perfectly fine.
Although this is marketed as an 'introductory textbook', the lack of citations really annoyed me - it explicitly states that the emphasis is on secondary sources, and even then only a few are made mention of. This made the book good for night-time reading, taking a wide-but-brief look at everything, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to students looking to start out reading in this area. Pick something a bit more meaty.
Hee! If you like cats and tidbits and illuminated manuscripts, this is a fun coffee table book for you.
Despite the intimidating page count, this is a fantastic introduction to the whole history of Christianity. It begins well before Jesus, placing the formation of Christianity into its broader world context, and continues right up to Benedict XVI.
For such a huge undertaking the book is thoroughly researched (and referenced!), easy to read, and wryly humorous. It is entirely non-judgemental on what we might now today call mistakes made by the Church (by the same token there was no crowing about successes, either), but MacCulloch doesn't shy away from tackling those hard topics with the same even-handedness he shows the whole topic.
For an academic student of the Church, without a religious affiliation, it has been an invaluable addition to my collection and my brain.
For such a huge undertaking the book is thoroughly researched (and referenced!), easy to read, and wryly humorous. It is entirely non-judgemental on what we might now today call mistakes made by the Church (by the same token there was no crowing about successes, either), but MacCulloch doesn't shy away from tackling those hard topics with the same even-handedness he shows the whole topic.
For an academic student of the Church, without a religious affiliation, it has been an invaluable addition to my collection and my brain.
Welp I did have criticisms of this book, but then I read Eco's justification for them and I agree with him.
But still.
The infodumps were tedious, although I recognise it's probably necessary for context if medieval history isn't your thing. They were my main problem with the story.
The indiscriminate Latin? Lovely. I am glad I waited to have a basic grasp of Latin before tackling this book; although it wouldn't have made any difference to my understanding of the story, it was nice to know what was going on without having to stop and look it up.
And the (spoiler-free) ending that makes the whole story slot neatly into could-have-happened historical fiction territory? Nicely done.
But still.
The infodumps were tedious, although I recognise it's probably necessary for context if medieval history isn't your thing. They were my main problem with the story.
The indiscriminate Latin? Lovely. I am glad I waited to have a basic grasp of Latin before tackling this book; although it wouldn't have made any difference to my understanding of the story, it was nice to know what was going on without having to stop and look it up.
And the (spoiler-free) ending that makes the whole story slot neatly into could-have-happened historical fiction territory? Nicely done.