DAVID CHIDESTER is Professor of Comparative Religion at the University of Cape Town. He is the author of many award-winning books (American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence) on Christianity and Comparative Religion.

• Part 1 Ancient origins: beginnings; Jesus; Christ; Christians; churches; martyrs; Christian empire; holiness; faith and reason; power. Part 2 Historical transitions: Christendom; hierarchy; objects; scholars; mystics; heretics; Mary; Renaissance; Reformation; Europe. Part 3 Global transformations: new world; holy Russia; American Zion; African prophets; Asian heavens; Hindu Christians; Christian cargo; Holocaust; Cold War; new world order.

"'A model of condensation without simplification' - J.M Coetzee 'Clear and balanced. A triumph of compression... invaluable as a work of reference for students' - Karen Armstrong, Times 'A new and ambitious concept in presenting Christian history...a triumph. Never before, I suspect, has this cavalcade of thinkers been presented in a manner which so successfully combines depth, breadth, and succinctness' - Gerard Noel, Catholic Herald"