Rating: 
Summary: provocative
Review: If the Catholic history was so negative as many books describe, I wonder how the Church ever could have survived. This book however chooses the other extreme. Everything non-Catholic is spoken against in quite uncompromising language: Islam, Protestantism, Vatican II, none of them seem to have any good according to the author.He does indeed make some good points, that strong critics of the church overlook. His strong words against Luther and Calvin and the Reformation are quite provocative to Protestants, but then even Hans Küng seems critical in a comparable way, even though the latter states it much more moderate and admits that there is some good in, at least Luther, too. If I compare his information with other books, I wonder what is true. Conservative and liberal authors both just mention the information that fits their views. If others are accused to follow their personal liberal agenda, this author definitely follows his personal conservative agenda. Even though I am not far as conservative as this author, as one contribution to this topic, it was an interesting read, but a balanced history of the Church still has to be written.
Rating: 
Summary: Read it and weep (...and laugh)
Review: I grew up in a Protestant family, in a Protestant country (U.S.A.) and, so, was fed all the anti-Catholic, Protestant fare that one would expect from a religion whose entire reason for being is as a protest against the Catholic Church. You've heard it all before: the Catholic Church killed "millions" in the Inquisition; the Catholic Church attacked defenseless "innocents" in the Crusades; the Catholic Church forces all their followers into mindless submission...yada, yada, yada. As this book shows, with great clarity (and great humor), the Catholic Church over the centuries preserved the true Christian faith, fighting heresy after heresy, and in the process civilized the entire Western world. Then, AFTER the Catholic Church did all the heavy lifting and made the world safe for Christianity, the Protestants spit in her face and said, "We don't need you anymore". Well, it's funny how things come around. Now the inevitable has happened: The continual watering down of the faith by Protestants has led to a new and powerful rise of paganism. The Protestants, who have NO historical experience in battling paganism, are now powerless to stop it. In fact, many of their own churches have become swallowed up in the culture of death. I'm convinced that the only way back to true Christianity is by way of the Catholic Church. Maybe this book will help you to understand this truth as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: This book is an outrage. Not only is Mr. Crocker's history flawed and out of date (still blames Nero for burning Rome) his references are distorted and taken out of context. He refers to Protestantism as heresy, a moronic inferno, and barbaric. He equates Luther with Hitler and the reformation with the Khmer Rouge. He says Calvin invented the police state and calls him a democrat, as if it were some kind of a vile epithet. Even Catholics are rebuked for the "disastrous results" of the Vatican II reforms. A Catholic friend gave this book to me. I have never been so offended. Not recommended for ecumenical dialogue.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. From St. Paul, to Constantine, to Aquinas, to Newman, Crocker brings the story of the Roman Catholic Church to life. Told with the passion only a convert can possess, his reasoned defense of Holy Mother Church is a breath of fresh air. WARNING: If you wish to continue to think that the Crusades were the Church's biggest mistake, or the the Inquisition was its lowest point, DO NOT READ this book. BUT, if you wish to bask in the antiseptic sunlight that is truth, you will find it here!!
Rating:
Summary: A Believer's History of the Church
Review: If you are tired of presentations of church history that are vehicles for a secular or liberal agenda, Crocker's history will uplift you with its panorama of Catholic history. As a convert, he writes with gusto of the Church he obviously loves. Crocker's work is a welcome change from the dreary tirades of those who are obsessed with dismantling the papacy and the Roman Catholic Church.
Rating:
Summary: A Glorious Triumph Indeed
Review: This is a fantastic book, Its also an enjoyable read, I smiled and laughed aloud, while reaading it. Its a great history of the Church and Christianity. It's like reading about your grand parents and finding out they had such a difficult & adventurous but love & fun filled life. As I read it I fell in Love with the Church all over again.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book of Catholic History
Review: Crocker takes a non-liberal, non-trendy, non-therapeutic look at the real history of the Church and all of its glorious traditions. Besides his wonderful historical interpretations, Crocker goes on to correctly point out that the sweeping reforms of Vatican II were essentially part of a process of dumbing down traditions in favor of appeasing a broader spectrum of laypersons. The three years of the Vatican Council (1962-1965) would prove to be the end of dogmatic, defining truths, and the beginning of unwelcome, modern innovations that have changed the Church forever.
Rating:
Summary: A must read!!!
Review: Mr. Crocker has outdone himself! I encourage all catholics and non-catholics to read this book. I can not begin to tell you how much I learned about my own faith.
Rating: 
Summary: thoroughly readable and enjoyable.
Review: I truly enjoyed reading this book, but thought that Crocker could have cited more. On one hand, it was his free style that kept me engaged through 1000 pages about 2000 years of history. On the other hand, some paragraphs went without a single footnote or citation.
It reads like a novel, but without citations one can too easily doubt the verity of the information. Which will inevitably happen as the most counter-cultural institution in the world is the topic.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible Breadth and Scope
Review: I recommend this book for any Catholic who is feeling downhearted about the recent scandals in the Church. Crocker's book grabs you right on the first page and takes you along on a journey that documents God's faithfulness to the Church Jesus established. There have been other scandals in the long history of the Catholic Church (which Jesus told us in the scriptures would happen when He said that there would be "chaff amongst the wheat") but even as God disciplined the Church, He blessed her and brought her to a greater place of holiness, evangelizing more and more people with the good news of Jesus and His sacrifice that leads to our salvation. So, in many ways, this book isn't so much about the triumph of the Catholic Church, fascinating as that may be. It is ultimately the story of how God loves us and continues to work His grace into us; it is a testimony to His compassionate understanding of our failures and our victories as we have walked the narrow path to heaven through the centuries.
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