Days after his prime minister was assassinated in the middle of Rome in November 1848, Pope Pius IX found himself a virtual prisoner in his own palace. Only two years earlier Pius's election had triggered a wave of optimism across Italy: he was seen as a youthful, benevolent new pope who would at last bring the Papal States into modern times and help create a new, unified Italian nation. Kertzer documents the story of the violent revolution that signaled...

In Baptists in America, Thomas S. Kidd and Barry Hankins explore the long-running tensions between church, state, and culture that Baptists have shaped and navigated. Despite the moment of unity that their early persecution provided, their history has been marked by internal battles and schisms that were microcosms of national events... Baptists have made an indelible impact on American religious and cultural history, from their early insistence that...

Veteran TIME Magazine journalist exposes the waning influence of Christianity in America and reveals vibrant signs of renewal and growth across the country.

A lost history revealing that, for centuries, Christianity's center was actually in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, with significant communities extending as far as China.

Presents lectures (each 30 minutes in length) by Brad S. Gregory, Associate Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, detailing the people, ideas, and events that transformed Western Christianity during the 16th and 17th centuries. (THIS IS A SET. Books and DVDs must be checkout together)

Five hundred years ago, an obscure monk challenged the authority of the pope with a radical new vision of what Christianity could be. The revolution he unwittingly set in motion has toppled governments, upended social norms, and transformed millions of people’s understanding of their relationship with God. In this dazzling global history charting five centuries of innovation and change, Alec Ryrie makes the case that the world we live in was indelibly...