AFTER JESUS: THE TRIUMPH of CHRISTIANITY by Reader's Digest



Roman Emperor Constantine (272-337 AD)
Published in 1992 by Reader's Digest.

Back in the day, Reader's Digest was famous for taking a popular novel and editing it down without losing the essence of the story. They were so good at it that the phrase "the Reader's Digest version" was a common way of saying getting the short version of a story.

In this case, Reader's Digest has provided a short, easy-to-read and easy-to-follow history of Christianity from the death of Christ to the rise of Islam in 321 pages. It is also a passable history of the Roman Empire for the same time period.

Technically, this is a re-read for me. I enjoyed it thoroughly more than 20 years ago and to my surprise, i enjoyed it just as much the second time around. Look through 3 or 4 pages and you will see several full color photos of ancient art, artifacts or locations and, most importantly, get a solid rundown of the people, ideas and controversies of the era.

The only weakness is the periodic inclusion of illustrations from one of their staff artists. Those illustrations are very generic - like the stuff you would find in old textbooks.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: AFTER JESUS: THE TRIUMPH of CHRISTIANITY by Reader's Digest.

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