History

[Samuel]

What is a good place to start learning Christian history? Books? Authors?

[Werner]

Samuel, my recommendation for a good solid introductory overview of Christian history is A History of Christianity by Kenneth Scott Latourette. It was written in 1953, so it won't cover developments since then. But for coverage of events before that, it will give you an excellent foundation to build on for further study --the best foundation you'll get in any one-volume history, IMO. My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

[Nathan]

I can highly recommend The Baker Atlas Of Christian History as a very accessible introduction. Being an atlas, it is a foolscap format book with many colour illustrations, maps and charts. Here are the main topics covered: Old Testament Period, New Testament Period, The Early Church, The Modern Church. I'll list the topics under "The Early Church" section to give more of an idea:
The spread of Christianity by 100 CE (AD)
The spread of Christianity by 300 CE (AD)
The Golden Age of the Church Fathers
The Church of Roman North Africa
Christians in ancient Rome
The Church in the West in the Sixth Century
The first Monks
The Barbarian Invasions
Justinian's Empire
The Pariarchates
The Birth of Islam
Islam to 750 CE (AD)
Charlemagne
Invasions of Europe
Irish and Anglo-Saxon Missions
Roman Missions in Western Europe
Orthodox Missions
Christianity comes to Russia
Monastic Reform
The Crusades
The Final Rift
The Church and Learning
Gothic Cathedrals
Heresy and Dissent
Byzantium Falls
The Franciscans
The Dominicans
Pilgrimages
The Reconquest of Spain
The Jews in Medieval Europe
The Great Schism
The Expulsion of the Jews from Spain
The Hussites

The Modern Church section commences in the 15th century, with world exploration and then launches into the Reformation...
Overall, very informative and gives a sweeping overview in 160 info packed pages.