
Christendom
The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $27.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Peter Heather
-
By:
-
Peter Heather
About this listen
'A fascinating story about a religion in a surprisingly precarious position' Dan Jones, Sunday Times
'Superb storytelling ... captivating and profound' Literary Review
'A page-turner' The Spectator
*A major new reinterpretation of Christendom, by one of our foremost medieval historians*
In the fourth century AD, a new faith exploded out of Palestine. Overwhelming the paganism of Rome, and converting the Emperor Constantine in the process, it resoundingly defeated a host of other rivals. Almost a thousand years later, all of Europe was controlled by Christian rulers, and the religion, ingrained within culture and society, exercised a monolithic hold over its population. But, as Peter Heather shows in this compelling new history, there was nothing inevitable about Christendom's rise to Europe-wide dominance.
In exploring how the Christian religion became such a defining feature of the European landscape, and how a small sect of isolated and intensely committed congregations was transformed into a mass movement centrally directed from Rome, Peter Heather shows how Christendom constantly battled against both so-called 'heresies' and other forms of belief. From the crisis that followed the collapse of the Roman empire, which left the religion teetering on the edge of extinction, to the astonishing revolution of the eleventh century and beyond in which the Papacy emerged as the head of a vast international corporation, Heather traces Christendom's chameleon-like capacity for self-reinvention and astounding willingness to mobilize well-directed force.
Christendom's achievement was not, or not only, to define official Christianity, but—from its scholars and its lawyers, to its provincial officials and missionaries in far-flung corners of the continent—to transform it into an institution that wielded effective religious authority across nearly all of the disparate peoples of medieval Europe. This is its extraordinary story.
'Sweeping and engaging history ... a non-triumphalist history of the triumph of Christianity, and all the more powerful for it' Financial Times
©2023 Peter Heather (P)2023 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Revolutionary Spring
- Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849
- By: Christopher Clark
- Narrated by: Christopher Clark
- Length: 33 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As history, the uprisings of 1848 have long been overshadowed by the French Revolution of 1789 and the Russian revolutions of the early twentieth century. And yet in 1848 nearly all of Europe was aflame with conflict. Parallel political tumults spread like brush fire across the entire continent, leading to significant changes that continue to shape our world today. These battles for the future were fought with one eye kept squarely on the past. Revolutionary Spring is a new understanding of 1848 that offers chilling parallels to our present moment.
-
-
Like the revolutions, it got off to a good start
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-23
-
The Burgundians
- A Vanished Empire: A History of 1111 Years and One Day
- By: Bart van Loo, Nancy Forest-Flier - translator
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 21 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of the fifteenth century, Burgundy was extinguished as an independent state. It had been a fabulously wealthy, turbulent region situated between France and Germany, with close links to the English kingdom. Torn apart by the dynastic struggles of early modern Europe, this extraordinary realm vanished from the map. But it became the cradle of what we now know as the Low Countries, modern Belgium and the Netherlands. This is the story of a thousand years, a must-listen narrative history of ambitious aristocrats, family dysfunction, treachery, savage battles, luxury, and madness.
-
-
Extraordinary story, expertly told and skillfully narrated
- By Daniel Vergara on 03-01-24
By: Bart van Loo, and others
-
Emperor of Rome
- Ruling the Ancient World
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Mary Beard
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius.
-
-
Wasn't sure but won me over
- By John S. on 01-26-24
By: Mary Beard
-
The Fall of the Roman Empire
- A New History of Rome and the Barbarians
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The death of the Roman Empire is one of the perennial mysteries of world history. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Peter Heather proposes a stunning new solution: Centuries of imperialism turned the neighbors Rome called barbarians into an enemy capable of dismantling an Empire that had dominated their lives for so long. A leading authority on the late Roman Empire and on the barbarians, Heather relates the extraordinary story of how Europe's barbarians, transformed by centuries of contact with Rome on every possible level, eventually pulled the empire apart.
-
-
A New HIstory but not a better history
- By Mario on 03-28-14
By: Peter Heather
-
The Rise of Western Christendom (10th Anniversary Revised Edition)
- Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200-1000
- By: Peter Brown
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 26 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This tenth anniversary revised edition of the authoritative text on Christianity's first thousand years of history features a new preface and an updated bibliography. The essential general survey of medieval European Christendom, Brown's vivid prose charts the compelling and tumultuous rise of an institution that came to wield enormous religious and secular power.
-
-
Mind-expanding book
- By ABC on 06-15-23
By: Peter Brown
-
Justinian
- Emperor, Soldier, Saint
- By: Peter Sarris
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Justinian is a radical reassessment of an emperor and his times. In the sixth century CE, the emperor Justinian presided over nearly four decades of remarkable change, in an era of geopolitical threats, climate change, and plague. From the eastern Roman—or Byzantine—capital of Constantinople, Justinian’s armies reconquered lost territory in Africa, Italy, and Spain. But these military exploits, historian Peter Sarris shows, were just one part of a larger program of imperial renewal.
-
-
Good telling of Justinian's reign
- By Amazon Customer on 02-04-24
By: Peter Sarris
-
Revolutionary Spring
- Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849
- By: Christopher Clark
- Narrated by: Christopher Clark
- Length: 33 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As history, the uprisings of 1848 have long been overshadowed by the French Revolution of 1789 and the Russian revolutions of the early twentieth century. And yet in 1848 nearly all of Europe was aflame with conflict. Parallel political tumults spread like brush fire across the entire continent, leading to significant changes that continue to shape our world today. These battles for the future were fought with one eye kept squarely on the past. Revolutionary Spring is a new understanding of 1848 that offers chilling parallels to our present moment.
-
-
Like the revolutions, it got off to a good start
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-23
-
The Burgundians
- A Vanished Empire: A History of 1111 Years and One Day
- By: Bart van Loo, Nancy Forest-Flier - translator
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 21 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of the fifteenth century, Burgundy was extinguished as an independent state. It had been a fabulously wealthy, turbulent region situated between France and Germany, with close links to the English kingdom. Torn apart by the dynastic struggles of early modern Europe, this extraordinary realm vanished from the map. But it became the cradle of what we now know as the Low Countries, modern Belgium and the Netherlands. This is the story of a thousand years, a must-listen narrative history of ambitious aristocrats, family dysfunction, treachery, savage battles, luxury, and madness.
-
-
Extraordinary story, expertly told and skillfully narrated
- By Daniel Vergara on 03-01-24
By: Bart van Loo, and others
-
Emperor of Rome
- Ruling the Ancient World
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Mary Beard
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius.
-
-
Wasn't sure but won me over
- By John S. on 01-26-24
By: Mary Beard
-
The Fall of the Roman Empire
- A New History of Rome and the Barbarians
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The death of the Roman Empire is one of the perennial mysteries of world history. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Peter Heather proposes a stunning new solution: Centuries of imperialism turned the neighbors Rome called barbarians into an enemy capable of dismantling an Empire that had dominated their lives for so long. A leading authority on the late Roman Empire and on the barbarians, Heather relates the extraordinary story of how Europe's barbarians, transformed by centuries of contact with Rome on every possible level, eventually pulled the empire apart.
-
-
A New HIstory but not a better history
- By Mario on 03-28-14
By: Peter Heather
-
The Rise of Western Christendom (10th Anniversary Revised Edition)
- Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200-1000
- By: Peter Brown
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 26 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This tenth anniversary revised edition of the authoritative text on Christianity's first thousand years of history features a new preface and an updated bibliography. The essential general survey of medieval European Christendom, Brown's vivid prose charts the compelling and tumultuous rise of an institution that came to wield enormous religious and secular power.
-
-
Mind-expanding book
- By ABC on 06-15-23
By: Peter Brown
-
Justinian
- Emperor, Soldier, Saint
- By: Peter Sarris
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Justinian is a radical reassessment of an emperor and his times. In the sixth century CE, the emperor Justinian presided over nearly four decades of remarkable change, in an era of geopolitical threats, climate change, and plague. From the eastern Roman—or Byzantine—capital of Constantinople, Justinian’s armies reconquered lost territory in Africa, Italy, and Spain. But these military exploits, historian Peter Sarris shows, were just one part of a larger program of imperial renewal.
-
-
Good telling of Justinian's reign
- By Amazon Customer on 02-04-24
By: Peter Sarris
-
Weavers, Scribes, and Kings
- A New History of the Ancient Near East
- By: Amanda H. Podany
- Narrated by: Amanda H. Podany
- Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this sweeping history of the ancient Near East, Amanda Podany takes listeners on a gripping journey from the creation of the world's first cities to the conquests of Alexander the Great. The book is built around the life stories of many ancient men and women, from kings, priestesses, and merchants to brickmakers, musicians, and weavers. Their habits of daily life, beliefs, triumphs, and crises, and the changes that people faced over time are explored through their own written words and the buildings, cities, and empires in which they lived.
-
-
word of advice
- By Jim Davis on 08-04-23
By: Amanda H. Podany
-
Pax
- War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Tom Holland
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Pax Romana has long been shorthand for the empire’s golden age. Stretching from Caledonia to Arabia, Rome ruled over a quarter of the world’s population. It was the wealthiest and most formidable state in the history of humankind. Pax is a captivating narrative history of Rome at the height of its power. From the gilded capital to realms beyond the frontier, historian Tom Holland shows ancient Rome in all its glory
-
-
Great book!
- By Mic on 09-27-23
By: Tom Holland
-
The Middle Kingdoms
- A New History of Central Europe
- By: Martyn Rady
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 22 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Central Europe has long been infamous as a region beset by war, a place where empires clashed and world wars began. In The Middle Kingdoms, Martyn Rady offers the definitive history of the region, demonstrating that Central Europe has always been more than merely the fault line between West and East. Even as Central European powers warred with their neighbors, the region developed its own cohesive identity and produced tremendous accomplishments in politics, society, and culture.
-
-
Marred by the errors in the modern section
- By Paul Boothroyd on 10-20-23
By: Martyn Rady
-
The Restoration of Rome
- Barbarian Popes and Imperial Pretenders
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In AD 476, the last of Rome's emperors, known as "Augustulus", was deposed by a barbarian general, the son of one of Attila the Hun's henchmen. With the imperial vestments dispatched to Constantinople, the curtain fell on the Roman empire in Western Europe, its territories divided among successor kingdoms constructed around barbarian military manpower. But, if the Roman Empire was dead, Romans across much of the old empire still lived, holding on to their lands, their values, and their institutions.
-
-
Byzantine Empire Stands Tall!
- By Placeholder on 05-22-14
By: Peter Heather
-
The Thirty Years War
- Europe's Tragedy
- By: Peter H. Wilson
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 33 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Thirty Years War devastated seventeenth-century Europe, killing nearly a quarter of all Germans and laying waste to towns and countryside alike. Peter Wilson offers the first new history in a generation of a horrifying conflict that transformed the map of the modern world.
-
-
Less caffeine, narrator
- By Jeff Joyner on 02-12-24
By: Peter H. Wilson
-
Rome and Persia
- The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 20 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Roman empire was like no other. Stretching from the north of Britain to the Sahara, and from the Atlantic coast to the Euphrates, it imposed peace and prosperity on an unprecedented scale. Its only true rival lay in the east, where the Parthian and then Persian empires ruled over great cities and the trade routes to mysterious lands beyond. Tracing seven centuries of conflict between Rome and Persia, historian Adrian Goldsworthy shows how these two great powers evolved together
-
-
MAPS NEEDED
- By David on 12-29-23
-
Theoderic the Great
- King of Goths, Ruler of Romans
- By: Hans-Ulrich Wiemer, John Noel Dillon - translator
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 23 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the year 493, the leader of a vast confederation of Gothic warriors, their wives, and children personally cut down Odoacer, the man famous for deposing the last Roman emperor in 476. That leader became Theoderic the Great (454-526). This engaging history of his life and reign immerses listeners in the world of the warrior-king who ushered in decades of peace and stability in Italy as king of Goths and Romans.
-
-
More for historians than general readers
- By Bill Staley on 10-29-23
By: Hans-Ulrich Wiemer, and others
-
Assyria
- The Rise and Fall of the World's First Empire
- By: Eckart Frahm
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At its height in 660 BCE, the kingdom of Assyria stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. It was the first empire the world had ever seen. Here, historian Eckart Frahm tells the epic story of Assyria and its formative role in global history. Assyria’s wide-ranging conquests have long been known from the Hebrew Bible and later Greek accounts. But nearly two centuries of research now permit a rich picture of the Assyrians and their empire beyond the battlefield.
-
-
Too much volume change in narration
- By Erin on 06-19-24
By: Eckart Frahm
-
The Blazing World
- A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689
- By: Jonathan Healey
- Narrated by: Oliver Hembrough
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The seventeenth century was a revolutionary age for the English. It started as they suddenly found themselves ruled by a Scotsman, and it ended in the shadow of an invasion by the Dutch. Under James I, England suffered terrorism and witch panics. Under his son Charles, state and society collapsed into civil war, to be followed by an army coup and regicide. For a short time—for the only time in history—England was a republic. There were bitter struggles over faith and Parliament asserted itself like never before. There were no boundaries to politics.
-
-
Been looking for this book for a long time
- By cmurrell on 07-30-23
By: Jonathan Healey
-
Bismarck's War
- The Franco-Prussian War and the Making of Modern Europe
- By: Rachel Chrastil
- Narrated by: Sarah Borges
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Among the conflicts that convulsed Europe during the nineteenth century, none was more startling and consequential than the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. Deliberately engineered by Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the war succeeded in shattering French supremacy, deposing Napoleon III, and uniting a new German Empire. But it also produced brutal military innovations and a precarious new imbalance of power that together set the stage for the devastating world wars of the next century. In Bismarck’s War, historian Rachel Chrastil chronicles events on the battlefield in full.
-
-
It's rare I don't finish a book...
- By Chris Corsini on 09-26-23
By: Rachel Chrastil
-
Iron and Blood
- A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples Since 1500
- By: Peter H. Wilson
- Narrated by: Rory Alexander
- Length: 34 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
German military history is typically viewed as an inexorable march to the rise of Prussia and the two world wars, the road paved by militarism and the result a specifically German way of war. Peter Wilson challenges this narrative. Looking beyond Prussia to German-speaking Europe across the last five centuries, Wilson finds little unique or preordained in German militarism or warfighting. Iron and Blood takes as its starting point the consolidation of the Holy Roman Empire, which created new mechanisms for raising troops but also for resolving disputes diplomatically.
-
-
Awesome
- By Will Georgiadis on 04-11-23
By: Peter H. Wilson
-
Two Houses, Two Kingdoms
- A History of France and England, 1100-1300
- By: Catherine Hanley
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were a time of personal monarchy, when the close friendship or petty feuding between kings and queens could determine the course of history. The Capetians of France and the Angevins of England waged war, made peace, and intermarried. In this lively history, Catherine Hanley traces the great clashes, and occasional friendships, of the two dynasties. Along the way, she emphasizes the fascinating and influential women of the houses—including Eleanor of Aquitaine—and shows how personalities and familial bonds shaped the fate of two countries.
-
-
Great book with a bit of slant
- By Ky on 12-20-22
By: Catherine Hanley
Critic reviews
*Financial Times Best Books of 2022: History*
"Magesterial . . . A bold reinterpretation of faith's nascent days . . . Adequately covering a thousand years of ecclesiastical governance and personal piety demands prodigious scholarship, and Heather answers the call admirably . . . A learned, exhaustive, and spritely account of the religious goings-on wherever Masses were celebrated." —Bob Duffy, Washington Independent Review of Books
"Fresh, prodigiously researched . . . Takes readers on a wide-ranging journey through eight centuries and across the length and breadth of Europe (and beyond) to understand the rise of Christendom . . . Throughout, the author finds ways to turn conventional wisdom on its head [and] introduces a host of little-known characters who played an outsized role in Christianity’s spread." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Students of the ancient world will find refreshing new perspectives on post-Roman Empire European history that challenge the received wisdom." —Mark Knoblauch, Booklist
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Rise of Western Christendom (10th Anniversary Revised Edition)
- Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200-1000
- By: Peter Brown
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 26 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This tenth anniversary revised edition of the authoritative text on Christianity's first thousand years of history features a new preface and an updated bibliography. The essential general survey of medieval European Christendom, Brown's vivid prose charts the compelling and tumultuous rise of an institution that came to wield enormous religious and secular power.
-
-
Mind-expanding book
- By ABC on 06-15-23
By: Peter Brown
-
The Restoration of Rome
- Barbarian Popes and Imperial Pretenders
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In AD 476, the last of Rome's emperors, known as "Augustulus", was deposed by a barbarian general, the son of one of Attila the Hun's henchmen. With the imperial vestments dispatched to Constantinople, the curtain fell on the Roman empire in Western Europe, its territories divided among successor kingdoms constructed around barbarian military manpower. But, if the Roman Empire was dead, Romans across much of the old empire still lived, holding on to their lands, their values, and their institutions.
-
-
Byzantine Empire Stands Tall!
- By Placeholder on 05-22-14
By: Peter Heather
-
The Fall of the Roman Empire
- A New History of Rome and the Barbarians
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The death of the Roman Empire is one of the perennial mysteries of world history. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Peter Heather proposes a stunning new solution: Centuries of imperialism turned the neighbors Rome called barbarians into an enemy capable of dismantling an Empire that had dominated their lives for so long. A leading authority on the late Roman Empire and on the barbarians, Heather relates the extraordinary story of how Europe's barbarians, transformed by centuries of contact with Rome on every possible level, eventually pulled the empire apart.
-
-
A New HIstory but not a better history
- By Mario on 03-28-14
By: Peter Heather
-
Empires and Barbarians
- The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Sean Schemmel
- Length: 25 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Empires and Barbarians presents a fresh, provocative look at how a recognizable Europe came into being in the first millennium AD. With sharp analytic insight, Peter Heather explores the dynamics of migration and social and economic interaction that changed two vastly different worlds--the undeveloped barbarian world and the sophisticated Roman Empire--into remarkably similar societies and states.
-
-
The Perils of Pronunciation
- By Thomas on 10-22-13
By: Peter Heather
-
The Verge
- Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years That Shook the World
- By: Patrick Wyman
- Narrated by: Patrick Wyman
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the best-selling tradition of The Swerve and A Distant Mirror, The Verge tells the story of a period that marked a decisive turning point for both European and world history. Here, author Patrick Wyman examines two complementary and contradictory sides of the same historical coin: the world-altering implications of the developments of printed mass media, extreme taxation, exploitative globalization, humanistic learning, gunpowder warfare, and mass religious conflict in the long term, and their intensely disruptive consequences in the short-term.
-
-
Like the Podcast but Better.
- By Michael S. Labrow on 07-21-21
By: Patrick Wyman
-
Medieval Christianity
- A New History
- By: Kevin Madigan
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For many, the medieval world seems dark and foreign - a miraculous, brutal, and irrational time of superstition and strange relics. The pursuit of heretics, the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the domination of the "Holy Land" come to mind.
-
-
New Standard Text for This Period
- By Bill Martin on 10-22-16
By: Kevin Madigan
-
The Rise of Western Christendom (10th Anniversary Revised Edition)
- Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200-1000
- By: Peter Brown
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 26 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This tenth anniversary revised edition of the authoritative text on Christianity's first thousand years of history features a new preface and an updated bibliography. The essential general survey of medieval European Christendom, Brown's vivid prose charts the compelling and tumultuous rise of an institution that came to wield enormous religious and secular power.
-
-
Mind-expanding book
- By ABC on 06-15-23
By: Peter Brown
-
The Restoration of Rome
- Barbarian Popes and Imperial Pretenders
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In AD 476, the last of Rome's emperors, known as "Augustulus", was deposed by a barbarian general, the son of one of Attila the Hun's henchmen. With the imperial vestments dispatched to Constantinople, the curtain fell on the Roman empire in Western Europe, its territories divided among successor kingdoms constructed around barbarian military manpower. But, if the Roman Empire was dead, Romans across much of the old empire still lived, holding on to their lands, their values, and their institutions.
-
-
Byzantine Empire Stands Tall!
- By Placeholder on 05-22-14
By: Peter Heather
-
The Fall of the Roman Empire
- A New History of Rome and the Barbarians
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The death of the Roman Empire is one of the perennial mysteries of world history. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Peter Heather proposes a stunning new solution: Centuries of imperialism turned the neighbors Rome called barbarians into an enemy capable of dismantling an Empire that had dominated their lives for so long. A leading authority on the late Roman Empire and on the barbarians, Heather relates the extraordinary story of how Europe's barbarians, transformed by centuries of contact with Rome on every possible level, eventually pulled the empire apart.
-
-
A New HIstory but not a better history
- By Mario on 03-28-14
By: Peter Heather
-
Empires and Barbarians
- The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Sean Schemmel
- Length: 25 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Empires and Barbarians presents a fresh, provocative look at how a recognizable Europe came into being in the first millennium AD. With sharp analytic insight, Peter Heather explores the dynamics of migration and social and economic interaction that changed two vastly different worlds--the undeveloped barbarian world and the sophisticated Roman Empire--into remarkably similar societies and states.
-
-
The Perils of Pronunciation
- By Thomas on 10-22-13
By: Peter Heather
-
The Verge
- Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years That Shook the World
- By: Patrick Wyman
- Narrated by: Patrick Wyman
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the best-selling tradition of The Swerve and A Distant Mirror, The Verge tells the story of a period that marked a decisive turning point for both European and world history. Here, author Patrick Wyman examines two complementary and contradictory sides of the same historical coin: the world-altering implications of the developments of printed mass media, extreme taxation, exploitative globalization, humanistic learning, gunpowder warfare, and mass religious conflict in the long term, and their intensely disruptive consequences in the short-term.
-
-
Like the Podcast but Better.
- By Michael S. Labrow on 07-21-21
By: Patrick Wyman
-
Medieval Christianity
- A New History
- By: Kevin Madigan
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For many, the medieval world seems dark and foreign - a miraculous, brutal, and irrational time of superstition and strange relics. The pursuit of heretics, the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the domination of the "Holy Land" come to mind.
-
-
New Standard Text for This Period
- By Bill Martin on 10-22-16
By: Kevin Madigan
-
Justinian
- Emperor, Soldier, Saint
- By: Peter Sarris
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Justinian is a radical reassessment of an emperor and his times. In the sixth century CE, the emperor Justinian presided over nearly four decades of remarkable change, in an era of geopolitical threats, climate change, and plague. From the eastern Roman—or Byzantine—capital of Constantinople, Justinian’s armies reconquered lost territory in Africa, Italy, and Spain. But these military exploits, historian Peter Sarris shows, were just one part of a larger program of imperial renewal.
-
-
Good telling of Justinian's reign
- By Amazon Customer on 02-04-24
By: Peter Sarris
-
Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood
- The Rise and Fall of Byzantium, 955 A.D. to the First Crusade
- By: Anthony Kaldellis
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the second half of the tenth century, Byzantium embarked on a series of spectacular conquests. By the early eleventh century, the empire was the most powerful state in the Mediterranean. Yet this imperial project came to a crashing collapse fifty years later, when political disunity, fiscal mismanagement, and defeat at the hands of the Seljuks and the Normans brought an end to Byzantine hegemony. By 1081, Byzantium's very existence was threatened.
-
-
Very Detailed but Tedious
- By Amazon Customer on 09-06-24
-
Christianity
- The First Three Thousand Years
- By: Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 46 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once in a generation, a historian will redefine his field, producing a book that demands to be read or heard - a product of electrifying scholarship conveyed with commanding skill. Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity is such a book. Breathtaking in ambition, it ranges back to the origins of the Hebrew Bible and covers the world, following the three main strands of the Christian faith.
-
-
Bias
- By 8cdpmpppm on 10-04-10
-
Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550 AD
- By: Peter Brown
- Narrated by: Fleet Cooper
- Length: 31 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jesus taught his followers that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. Yet by the fall of Rome, the church was becoming rich beyond measure. Through the Eye of a Needle is a sweeping intellectual and social history of the vexing problem of wealth in Christianity in the waning days of the Roman Empire, written by the world's foremost scholar of late antiquity.
-
-
A learned, well-balanced postmodern history
- By Jacobus on 11-21-12
By: Peter Brown
-
Ancient Christianities
- The First Five Hundred Years
- By: Paula Fredriksen
- Narrated by: Rachel Perry
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The ancient Mediterranean teemed with gods. For centuries, a practical religious pluralism prevailed. How, then, did one particular god come to dominate the politics and piety of the late Roman Empire? In Ancient Christianities, Paula Fredriksen traces the evolution of early Christianity—or rather, of early Christianities—through five centuries of Empire, mapping its pathways from the hills of Judea to the halls of Rome and Constantinople.
-
-
Among the best
- By Jacob Kilgore on 04-17-25
By: Paula Fredriksen
-
The Reformation
- A History
- By: Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 36 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At a time when men and women were prepared to kill - and be killed - for their faith, the Protestant Reformation tore the Western world apart. Acclaimed as the definitive account of these epochal events, Diarmaid MacCulloch's award-winning history brilliantly recreates the religious battles of priests, monarchs, scholars, and politicians - from the zealous Martin Luther and his 95 Theses to the polemical John Calvin to the radical Igantius Loyola, from the tortured Thomas Cranmer to the ambitious Philip II.
-
-
Excellent
- By Eli Shem Tov on 05-15-17
-
The Fall of Rome
- And the End of Civilization
- By: Bryan Ward-Perkins
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Fall of Rome, eminent historian Bryan Ward-Perkins argues that the "peaceful" theory of Rome's "transformation" is badly in error. Indeed, he sees the fall of Rome as a time of horror and dislocation that destroyed a great civilization, throwing the inhabitants of the West back to a standard of living typical of prehistoric times. Attacking contemporary theories with relish and making use of modern archaeological evidence, he looks at both the wider explanations for the disintegration of the Roman world and also the consequences for the lives of everyday Romans.
-
-
best book ever on Fall of Rome
- By james m. on 01-30-22
-
The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
-
-
Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
-
Historical Theology (3rd Edition)
- An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought
- By: Alister E. Mcgrath
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 20 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought traces the development of Christian theology from its earliest days to the present. This authoritative, accessible textbook introduces the major theological movements, key ideas, and individual theologians of the Patristic Period, the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the Reformation and Post-Reformation, and the Modern Era up to the present day. Now in its third edition, Historical Theology includes substantial new sections on theodicy, modern African Christologies, and postcolonial theology.
-
-
Superb Overview for Christian Doctrine of the West
- By Noy on 08-26-24
-
Revolusi
- Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World
- By: David Van Reybrouck
- Narrated by: Neil Gardner
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 1945, a handful of people raised a homemade cotton flag and announced the birth of a new nation. With the fourth largest population in the world, inhabiting islands that span an eighth of the globe, Indonesia became the first country to rid itself of colonial rule after WWII.
-
-
Solid Historical Survey
- By DavidPrestonokwu on 06-05-24
-
Theoderic the Great
- King of Goths, Ruler of Romans
- By: Hans-Ulrich Wiemer, John Noel Dillon - translator
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 23 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the year 493, the leader of a vast confederation of Gothic warriors, their wives, and children personally cut down Odoacer, the man famous for deposing the last Roman emperor in 476. That leader became Theoderic the Great (454-526). This engaging history of his life and reign immerses listeners in the world of the warrior-king who ushered in decades of peace and stability in Italy as king of Goths and Romans.
-
-
More for historians than general readers
- By Bill Staley on 10-29-23
By: Hans-Ulrich Wiemer, and others
-
Heretics and Believers
- A History of the English Reformation
- By: Peter Marshall
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 35 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Centuries on, what the Reformation was and what it accomplished remain deeply contentious. Peter Marshall's sweeping new history argues that 16th-century England was a society neither desperate for nor allergic to change, but one open to ideas of "reform" in various competing guises. This engaging history reveals what was really at stake in the overthrow of Catholic culture and the reshaping of the English Church.
-
-
A heavy read but well worth it.
- By chemtrooper on 12-02-18
By: Peter Marshall
Well organized and incredibly researched
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Comparative perspective
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Comprehensive & Accessible
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What I Thought I Knew…
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent read
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent, detailed history with analysis
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
One of the finest works of history I have ever
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The centrality of the Roman church was something developed over the long term, with the ebbs and flows of secular power influencing it.
But overall, even though he is forced to admit the power of faith and piety in many cases, he can’t help himself from defaulting to ridiculous Reddit atheist positions, which just can’t fathom how the power of faith to shape the soul is the main causal factor (without denying that material causes matter too)
Even in the context of small business, trying to enforce a simple policy change involves repeated emphasis at the very least: without buy in from the employees, simple forced changes do not work.
Yet Heather wants us to believe that on the scale of the entire Europe, Christianity developed without the power of faith as the main factor.
His arguments and evidence do not justify that conclusion.
He provided a meal with excellent ingredients and cooking—but added a fistful of salt at the end, spoiling the meal.
Fistful of Salt
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Christendom is a misleading name, it truly does not cover that. Granted, it begins 300AD, but little to no back mention to the earliest of the church.
it begins with Constantine, and basically ends in 1300AD with Constantine.
No mention of the Coptic church, Ethiopian church.
Rome, and Constantine.
Little mention of the Eastern Orthodox, just a snip bit of the schism.
Follows a very monolithic line. Augustin barely mentioned. Aquinas just as a side.
Good detail to Saint Francis of Assisi and Dominique.
Author professes as I believe agnostic, he is Aldo the author. Very monotone, standard British voice, no emotion or depth.
I would argue, should a book be written by a believer, narrator should be at best on the fence.
And vice versa.
Finally, quite frankly you cannot cover true Christendom from 300-1300.
You must start 100AD to at least 1600AD. Preferably 1900AD.
That encompasses Christendom, before modernity.
Detailed, accurate, fair. Just not a book I'd personally read again.
Not great.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
about twice as long as it should be
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.