This is survey of fifteen centuries of church history. Three features make it different from other books, so that it appeals to the widest possible audience. First, it does not separate church history from the winder history of the world in which it is set. Christians live in that wider world and political, social and economic developments have often determined the life of the church. Secondly, it uses all the available traces of the past to tell its story buildings, works of art and the results of archaeological investigations - and includes line-drawings to illustrate many of them. Thirdly, it provides direct quotations from the written sources in translation.