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  • Published: 26 October 2011
  • ISBN: 9781742534169
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 640

A Short History of Christianity



With his characteristic curiosity and storytelling skill, Blainey considers Christianity's central place in world history. Will it remain in the centre? As Blainey observes in his eminently readable account, the story of Christianity is one of many ups and downs.

For 2000 years, Christianity has had a varying but immense influence on world history. Who better, then, than Geoffrey Blainey, author of the best-selling Short History of the World and one of Australia's most accomplished historians, to bring us a history of this world-changing religion.

A Short History of Christianity vividly describes many of the significant players in the religion's rise and fall through the ages, from Jesus himself to Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther, Francis Xavier, John Wesley and even the Beatles, who claimed to be 'more popular than Jesus'. Blainey takes us into the world of the mainstream worshippers – the housewives, the stonemasons – and traces the rise of the critics of Christ and his followers.

With his characteristic curiosity and storytelling skill, Blainey considers Christianity's central place in world history. Will it remain in the centre? As Blainey observes in his eminently readable account, the story of Christianity is one of many ups and downs.

'Extraordinary.' Herald Sun

'A well-researched journey of faith through history' Courier-Mail

'Told with a deceptive simplicity that will compel {readers}.' Weekend Australian

'Irresistible . . . [Blainey] maintains an informative and enthusiastic style.' Australian Book Review

  • Published: 26 October 2011
  • ISBN: 9781742534169
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 640

About the author

Geoffrey Blainey

Professor Geoffrey Blainey is one of Australia’s most prolific and popular historians. He has written more than forty books, including The Tyranny of Distance, Triumph of the Nomads, A Shorter History of Australia, The Rush That Never Ended, and the international bestseller A Short History of the World, which was published in a score of lands as far apart as Brazil, India, Spain and China. He has served the federal government as chairman of the Commonwealth Literary Fund, the Australia Council for the Arts, the National Council for the Centenary of Federation, and the Australia–China Council.
At the United Nations in New York, in 1988, Professor Blainey received the celebrated Britannica Prize ‘for exceptional excellence in the dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of mankind’. A recipient of Australia’s highest honour, Companion in the Order of Australia (AC), he has been officially listed for two decades by the National Trust as a ‘National Living Treasure’. He is married to the well-known biographer Ann Blainey.

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Awards & recognition

Australian Christian Book of the Year

Shortlisted  •  2012  •  Australian Christian Book of the Year

Prime Minister's Literary Awards

Shortlisted  •  2012  •  Non-fiction