"Christianity:  The Illustrated History" is a powerful combination of intelligent, accessible scholarship and magnificent color illustrations, revealing how a faith founded on the teachings of a man who lived and died some 2,000 years ago has decisively shaped the modern world - from philosophical ideas, laws, and institutions to the pursuit of rational inquiry, education, and traditions of charity and caring.

• An essential history of the most popular global religion, its origins and development, and its key doctrines and concepts.


• Brings Christianity alive through the human story of Christ and his followers - as well as millennia of mystics, saints, artists, philosophers, and writers.


• Includes illustrated special features on aspects of art and architecture, from the stained-glass glories of the Gothic style and the uplifting majesty of Byzantine churches to the colorful splendor of illuminated manuscripts.


• Contains more than 100 sidebars and boxes that shed light on cultural contexts and compelling details, from the horror of crucifixion to attitudes toward money and morals in business.