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Though released by the Robinson imprint under it's “A Brief History of” series this book was originally released in 1977 to accompany a 13 part TV series called The Christians. The edition I have is updated with re-release in 2003. It does read as more “A Brief History of European Christianity” and as such also an accompaniment to the TV series for a British public as opposed to a general primer.
Be that as it may it has been a good read on a subject that is always of interest though one I have not read in any depth on in many a long year. Author Bamber Gascoigne has written with a useful sense of respect towards Christianity but has been clever enough with his humour to highlight the contradictions of its many adherents as to their own interpretations of biblical text for their own purposes.
The early chapters covered, as expected, Christianitys birth and expansion. Once past this stage the book became a little too limited for me personally in terms of the religions growth outside its European base. It does cover the Americas but more the US and it acceptance of the various Protestant denominations. I was interested to read that 1 in 4 Christians, at the time of writing, were of the Pentecostal denominations and I should imagine that is true 15 years later.
The final two chapters were easily the strength of the book for this reader with the coverage of themes such as the fight against Slavery through to the rise of Atheism in the west. It was interesting to read of the UK's proselytising in it colonial expansions. In 1837, as one example, a British missionary reported the conversion of 150,000 south sea islanders to Christianity and at the same time was saying that they were “... few years ago unclothed savages...” who “are now wearing articles of British manufacture” Praise the lord and pass me your credit details please.
