Rating: 
Summary: Succinct Overview of a Complicated Subject
Review: This is far from a perfect history. Of course, such a work would be volumes upon volumes and would likely never be ready by anyone other than the most dedicated historians. There are certainly better histories, but very few are as readable or accessible to the general reader. For those with only passing interest in history, this is an excellent book. It is certainly not particularly academic, but it is referenced quite well and should suffice as 'undergraduate level' reading.To address one issue that most certainly arises, yes Crocker does portray the Catholic Church in an extremely positive light. While he does mention the failings of many a leader, he does not dwell on them as many other histories are wont to do. Is he biased? Possibly, but no more than the predominant anti-Catholic historians that get most of the press and recognition. In reading Triumph the distinct impression is given that Crocker's reading of history was highly influential in his conversion from the Anglican Church. Perhaps Mr. Crocker's take on history is not really motivated by some agenda, but merely reflective of how convinced he is of Catholicism by the true story of history. It seems to me to be rediculous to suggest that the failings of Catholic leaders deserve more attention than their virtues, of which there are FAR more examples. In my conclusion, Crocker provides a refreshing reminder of the vast virtues of the Catholic Church while acknowledging the deficiencies in Her leaders. He gives emphasis to each aspect in its proper ratio.
Rating:
Summary: pretty good, but a tad dry
Review: pretty good book, but it took me about a week to read it because it's so dry. good read, but allot some major time for it.
Rating: 
Summary: Annoying prejudices mars good attempt
Review: Crocker sets out to give a summary of 2,000 years of Christian history, starting with Constantine who fought under the Christian banner and made Christianity the state religion, and then going back to the apostles and from there chronologically up to Pope John Paul II. The book is intended as an unashamed apology for the Catholic Church and a cry for Christian unity and greatness. The history is, at places, a veritable tour-de-force that occasionally allows us real glimpses into the personalities of the people involved. However, what could have been a great work is marred by two things. First, Crocker's prejudices are annoying. The Italians are always corrupt, the French always noble but stupid, the Spanish lazy, the Germans, who "live in dark forests that makes them mad", have few redeeming qualities. These comments might have been amusing if they had been mentioned once or twice, but when every single calamity in Italy is "because of the Italians inherent corruption", ever setback in Spain is explained by the laziness of the inhabitants, when, in short, every mention of every nation or nationality is an excuse for Crocker to pour out his xenophobia, the reader's patience is severely tested. This presentation does no favours to his Church, and I doubt that anybody who is in doubt will be convinced by this bigoted work. Secondly, the central message of Crocker's work -- that the Catholic Church is primarily a force for good -- is probably sound, but he doesn't do it justice by refusing to own up to and discuss the more difficult aspects of the history of the Church. For example, the Spanish inquisition is summarily dismissed as being "not so bad" on the grounds that it "only" killed a few thousand people, and the witch-hunts of the middle ages, which merits an official apology in the Encyclopaedia, doesn't get a mention. Maybe there are arguments why we should consider both a force for good, but Crocker cowardly shies away from this discussion. This is a book that could have been great but has been let down by its cowardly and bigoted author. And that is a real shame. I can only hope that a better author will be inspired by Crocker's efforts and build on those to create a convincing and balanced history and apology based on the Christian virtues of love and respect for your neighbour and for the truth.
Rating: 
Summary: A Remarkable Achievement
Review: Crocker does an outstanding (indeed, unique) job in narrating 2000 years of fascinating, complex, and multi-faceted history in a mere 500 pages. What an outstanding accomplishment! And, moreover, a much-needed one. The Church is in dire need of all the defenders she can get, and Crocker certainly fits the bill -- his "Triumph" is just that. I have no significant negatives to mention, and none that pertain to content, historical awareness and analysis, or argumentation. I can only say that while the book is, overall, well written, there is occasional awkwardness. Also, while I enjoyed Crocker's humor, it eventually became a bit redundant, rather pretentiously relied on French-word usage, and there were "clunkers." Frankly, I couldn't care less. The book is a gem, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice narrative, misleading history.
Review: This book's author is a convert to Roman Catholicism, and the book reads like it: while a "cradle Catholic" [sic] would take a balanced approach to Roman Catholicism, weighing the bad with the good, Crocker provides a crock, er, a heavily weighted apologia for Roman Catholicism. Especially interesting is his discussion of the break with the Orthodox, wherein a position that never had been doctrinal before suddenly becomes the measure of "true" Christianity, and Crocker finds this perfectly reasonable! If you are a committed Roman Catholic who does not know much about the history of Christianity, this book's bias will not bother you and its cheerleading will appeal; otherwise, try a different title (say, Gregory Palamas's _The Triads_).
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Summary: Wonderful!!!
Review: This book is terrific. It does a wonderful job of illustrating Catholic social teaching, the flaws in modern western thought, and the strengths of the Church's philosophical principles. The reviewer who suggested quitting at the start of the 19th century could not be more wrong. Many people will be shocked by many of the author's comments. The author's commentary is what makes it great. I cannot believe a convert can have this deep of understanding of the Church. Very few people do.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but one-sided
Review: In the interest of full-disclosure, let me say that I am a Catholic and that I am in sympathy with the perspective of the author. That being said, I enjoyed the book immensely. I don't recall reading something so quickly in a long time. Besides having a very nimble and engaging writing style, Mr. Crocker does us all the great service of depicting certain realities of history that are usually obscured or omitted by non-Catholic historians, be they Protestant or strictly secular. We come to understand that the Church, far from being an institution of crude repression and corruption, has been the historic defender of intellectual freedom, political restraint, cultural development, and ethnic tolerance. In other words, it has been the upholder of values for which it has been accused of oppressing. Crocker turns modern, negative interpretations of Constantine, the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the Reformation on their heads. He also shows that just because the Church has gotten its hands dirty from time to time does not mean that it's forever corrupted. Such things are (unfortunately) necessary to deal with the situation at hand. If armies are attacking the papacy, then the papacy must fight back. If heretics are trying to undermine the orthodox faith, then an inquisition must be launched. Restraint and moral methods should always be used, but the Church could not control every single person employed in her interest, and so there were abuses. The only real problem with Crocker's history is that it is so one-sided that one wonders if the motivations of those parties opposed to the Church were always so depraved and evil. The leftist uprisings directed against the Church in 19th- and 20th-century Latin America, for example, were certainly destructive, but I would have liked to known more about the motivations of those people. Surely they weren't all dogs of hell bent on destruction for destruction's sake? But then again, history and academia in general have been such pathetic apologists of the evils of socialism and leftist radicalism for so long that maybe these people don't deserve the time of day. One thing is for sure: the Gates of Hell certainly have not prevailed against the Church. Their chance to do so has, hopefully, passed forever.
Rating:
Summary: corrected my misconceptions
Review: I recently "converted" to Catholicism from evangelical protestantism for theological reasons. My knowledge of church history was virtually nil, since it is virtually irrelevant to sola scriptura protestants. I was eager to read an explanation of how Christ's Church could in good conscious participate in inquisitions and crusades, and sell indulgences, etc... This book set me straight. Although errors and abuses are not overlooked, Crocker sets the context for understanding how the Church generally behaved in moderate and responsible ways -- especially compared to her enemies. I also now view with great sadness the "reformation" and establishemnt of state religions and eventual secularization of governments. Give me Christendom any day! The book is fun and engrossing (buy it!), but the language is tortuous at times (my only complaint). Consider this sentence as a worst example: "On that score Elizabeth was, in domestic matters, as opposed to the Puritans on her left -- she detested, for instance, John Knox, whose First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women could not be much enjoyed by a queen -- as she was to the Catholics on her right, despite their soundness on 'the monstrous regiment of women' question." (p.269). Lord have mercy.
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Summary: Church history doesn't have to be dull!
Review: Everyone who has ever suffered through an interminable, poorly organized and ill-thought out sermon can be pardoned for suspecting that any book on ecclesiastical history would be as dull as a Wednesday night in Purgatory, and in most cases they would be right. However, every rule has an exception and in this case Triumph is that exception.
In punchy prose Crocker surveys the history of the impact of the Catholic Church on human history. A convert, he not surprisingly finds that impact to be positive. This book is a useful contrast to a torrent of recent books written by bitter ex-catholics, de facto if not de jure, that pillory the Church for having standards that differ from those contained in the latest editorials of the New York Times.
Considering the dearth of readable books on the subject, this book should be considered by every Catholic parent as must reading for themselves and their kids.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: It took guts to write a book like this. With the Catholic Church currently being demonized on a scale not seen since Nero's Rome, Crocker has written a panoramic 2000 year history of the Church that makes no - absolutely no - apologies, or concessions to its critics. It is an astonishing act of defiance. Crocker lashes into pagans, atheists, heretics, Saracens and Byzantines with a passion that could have come from a thirteenth century scriptorium. Among other surprises, Crocker reveals that Catholic dogma has never called for a strictly literal interpretation of scripture. "Aha!" cry the born-agains, "More proof the pope is the Antichrist!" Not so fast. Consider Exodus 19:4. God instructs Moses to tell the Israelites, "You yourself have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles wings, and brought you to myself." Everyone knows the Hebrews walked out of Egypt. Exodus 19:4, and many other passages, are meant to be interpreted metaphorically. But how are we to know when the Bible speaks literally and metaphorically? The Catholic Church provided a hierarchical, orderly system of learned doctors and priests who spent lifetimes pondering that question. The masses were given a simpler faith. The Church recognized that some people simply are smarter than others, and better equipped to handle subtle ideas. The system worked for centuries. But then came Martin Luther, a man whose own writings reveal him to be a violent, hate-filled, anti-semitic person constantly tormented by visions of the devil. Luther encouraged Christians to read the Bible and draw their own conclusions. In the chaos that followed, a phantasmagoria of Protestant sects emerged, some advocating a nightmare version of Christianity, such as Calvinism, which outlawed singing, dancing, jewelry, pictures, etc. Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas in England because it wasn't in the Bible. Witch burnings, rare in Catholic countries, rose to genocidal proportions in Protestant lands. "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," says Exodus 22:18. Eventually many people realized that if one interprets everything in the Bible literally, a lot of it doesn't make sense. Forced to choose between this confusion and common sense, many people gave up on the Church altogether and other gods rose to take its place. French revolutionaries promised to make the State the new religious cult. Kings and emperors used to fear excommunication, but in the 20th century, blasphemous madmen such as Hitler and Stalin laughed in the Church's face. There is hope for the future though. The moral relativism of our age is beginning to wear thin. The Church will survive its current scandal, and as Crocker says in his book, Catholicism, led by good men, will rise from its catacombs to astonish the world.
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