Epic of the West

The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, 200-1000 AD, 2nd ed., by Peter Brown (Blackwell, 640 pp., $29.95)

In this, his most mature book, Peter Brown, the author of the acclaimed biography of Augustine of Hippo, invites his readers to imagine things very big and to meditate on things very small. The largeness is found in the vast scope of the narrative, from the early years of Christian history up to the conversion of Iceland at the end of the first millennium; the smallness is evident in his uncanny eye for surprising and arresting details.

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About the Author

Robert Louis Wilken

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The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, 200-1000 AD, 2nd ed., by Peter Brown (Blackwell, 640 pp., $29.95)

In this, his most mature book, Peter Brown, the author of the acclaimed biography of Augustine of Hippo, invites his readers to imagine things very big and to meditate on things very small. The largeness is found in the vast scope of the narrative, from the early years of Christian history up to the conversion of Iceland at the end of the first millennium; the smallness is evident in his uncanny eye for surprising and arresting details.