Kenneth Scott Latourette (1884–1968)

Magisterial in scope, Latourette's work is, however, largely the bane of university and Christian divinity school students the world over. The paperback is heavy on the wrists, the typeface is very small, and it generally just does not offer a pleasant reading experience. That being said, there are great treasures to be seen in the castle once one fords the moat and climbs the front wall to obtain the key hanging on a peg just out of reach.

5368. The Nineteenth Century in Europe Background and the Roman Catholic Phase Christianity in a Revolutionary Age A History of Christianity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Volume I by Kenneth Scott Latourette (read 22 Apr 2016) This is the first volume of a five volume work undertaken in 1958 by a Yale professor, Baptist in Religion, in which he surveys briefly the history of Christianity up to the time of the French Revolution, and then , beginning in Chapter VI, sets out the show more events from 1815 to 1914 as pertinent to Catholicism,. His account does not show any obvious bias and much of the description lauds some of the Catholic behavior during the period. In fact, he is more favorable to some of the reactionary behavior of, e.g., Popes Gregory XVI and Pius IX than am I. His praise of Leo XIII I appreciated. On page 440 I noted his favorable words as to Franz Hitze, outstanding Catholic leader in Germany from the 1880's till his death in 1921, Father Hitze being my maternal grandfather's first cousin. show less

Monumental, but needs updating again

Each paragraph of this classic brick-of-a-book has shelves devoted to it; the standard initial history, it thus forms the foundation of many a Christianity library. A great baseline, it'll never quite go out of date.