The Church of the East: A Concise History

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Summary: interesting subject, horribly expensive book
Review: Long have I been looking for a readable book on the Assyrian Church of the East/East Syriac/Aramaic/Nestorian church.This is the best and most recent I've found.For some reason just about all the research into Aramaic Christianity seems to have been written in the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries.Alas,though this book admirably covers a forgotten history, no one but an extremely wealthy person can afford it.I agree with the previous reviewer-find it in a library or through interlibrary loan-but at least find it.

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Summary: Basic Introduction to the History of the Church of the East
Review: This is a basic introduction to the history of the Apostolic Church of the East, an ancient form of Middle Eastern and Asian Christianity whose leader once had more geographic area under his jurisdiction than any other religious leader in the world. Unlike Roman Catholicism, the Church of the East was never a state religion, and thus it was forced to operate under a succession of often hostile secular rulers. The two German authors (this is their English translation of the German orginal) thus appropriately break their work into chapters covering the Church under the Sassanian Persians, the Arabs, the Mongols, the Ottomans, and finally under 20th century states. It also includes a useful appendix with a chronology of both Church leaders and the secular rulers under which they operated. Although providing the basics, the book is unlikely to satisfy lay readers or scholars. The former would almost certainly note that there is very little flow to the book; it often comes close to being just a recitation of one fact after another. Scholars will be annoyed that nothing is footnoted, the authors instead referring the reader to the bibliography. Finally, the book is outrageously expensive (listing at approximately $90) for the 200 pages of information it provides. If you are interested, check it out of a library. A much better buy is Samuel Hugh Moffett's two volume "A History of Christianity in Asia." It is more readable, more scholarly, more detailed, and more reasonably priced.