J. A. McCarron

I couldn't ask for a better history book.

I have read several books about the crusades but this was the first book I have listened to relating to this time period and this theatre of war. I was surprised at what I had been missing.

Since this is my first book dealing specifically with this time period I don't feel qualified to address bias. I will say that partisans on both sides, who are inclined to try to read these books to justify, or vilify, either side will find much ammunition in this book.

The soldiers who fought in these wars on both sides tend to define both bravery and cruelty in a strange mixture.

The author did a masterful job of providing fascinating anecdotes from early sources as well as setting the context and informing the reader a bit about the context of the times. Even, as a new reader to this time period I did not feel lost as the story unfolded.

The reason I say a movie "or 3??? is that there were several major battles covered and any one of which could make a great movie. Rhodes, Malta, and Lepanto seem obvious choices.

As stated by several others, the narrator was first class.

Bravo to all involved in this audible book.

If you looking for people who want to try to twist history into sensationalist claims then I guess Dr. Madden won't be for you. You won't get the recently popular nonsense about how Mary Magdalene had Jesus's baby on the coast of France or whatever. If missing out on that means it will be boring to you, then this will be boring.


But he gives allot of the information regarding early church history and doesn't have an axe to grind. With him it seems facts first and then theories. The theories may not be as spectacular but they also aren???t horribly misinformed. And I will say even the seemingly less sensational theories that spring up from listening to his lectures have always given me allot to think about.



As far as his tone of voice and that sort of thing, I had no problem with it. But then again I find the material interesting.

I agree with Michael, at times the author repeats himself about lag. Nevertheless, thats sort of the point. Battles on this scale and at these speeds are all about lag and trying to deal with it.

BTW I think the narrator is does a great job.

I enjoyed the book and will read/listen to the next book in series.

Mr Kung goes through church history rather selectively. It is after all a short history so he is going to cover only the points he think are important. Of course, those are the events that will support his views. Nevertheless his views are often insightfull and I beleive quite valuable.

One theme throughout the book is that the Church should stop trying to act like a thought police department. This is the strongest point of the book. He draws a picture where we can see most of the greatest tragedies that the church faced/caused were due to trying to micromanage peoples religious beliefs. Excommunication should not be the rebuttal to every divergent view.

He starts to lose the thread every now and then when he talks about his political/social views about birth control and abortion. At times he seems to argue the church should condone whatever the majority of people think. He even cites gallup polls suggesting that the church should follow them in how they teach the christian message. That type of argument can only drag his credibility down.

The book isn't as objective as the title may suggest but overall a book worth reading.

Martin Luther King was not a politician he was Christian Preacher who felt compelled to "do right." You may not agree with everything he says (eg. re. viatnam and role of UN) but, if you listen, you do know this man *truly* believed in what he said. He was in every way a true believer. He also truly belived in and loved all people and perhaps especially African Americans.

People who want to ignore religion in his life just don't get it. People who believe that the only reality is the physical things of this life just don't end up with drive to do well in the world like MLK had. After listening to this book I am convinced he felt God was driving him to do his work and acting through him. After listening to this book I believe his feeling was correct.
Whether someone truly believes in a cause or not this book will enlighten you about someone who does believe in a cause and throws his soul into. It also indicates what he go through and how he handles it. This was truly inspirational