The book is well written, accessible, and "lege artis" historically. But it is written entirely from the human perspective: humans invented the Jewish history, humans wrote the bible, humans invented the christian religion, and humans are quarreling about its details. If you are looking for religious inspiration, I would definitely not recommend reading this book. But it does put those details which have been subject to so much discussion in the past centuries in a broader perspective, which can make it easier to accept different christian denominations as brothers and sisters.

The author's anti- Christian bias shows throughout the book in statements far too many to number. He frequently throws in opinionated statements to subtly attack the veracity of Christianity.

This is a very comprehensive history of the development of Christianity. The reader will probably have heard of and know something about the major players mentioned, but there are a great number of until now obscure characters who have walk-on parts. It is almost more of an encyclopedia than a narrative. Great as a reference work, but a long slog through a thousand pages.

By his own admission the author is angry at Christianity. The authro throws opinions around, some are plausible and some simply wrong and misleading. His bias shows through and through.

Since his footnones are very sparce (although he got his material from other published sources) it is hard to lend any credence to most of his arguments.

The last thing I would call MacCulloch is an historian.

If you want to see an example of how an historical approach to christianity should be made I would suggest reading Craig Keener's commentary of the Gospel of John.

You get all known sources and different opinions about specific topics including the author's.

On the positive side the author has a very plasant writing style which reads like a novel, which probably contributed to the previous positive review.

The writer has a deep knowledge of this vast subject. His book is meticulously researched and beautifully written. Despite the intimidating length, I'm enjoying every page and already (halfway through) amd sad to know this wonderful read will end.