The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason - Tapa blanda

"Enjoyable and illuminating. . . . Clearly and plausibly argued . . . full of fascinating detail." -The Boston Globe

"Entertaining. . . . An excellent and readable account of the development of Christian doctrine." -The New York Times Book Review

"There is much here to admire. . . . It is a panoramic view that Freeman handles with grace, erudition and lucidity." -The Washington Times

"A triumph. . . . Engrossing. . . . Successfully realized. . . . Wholly admirable. . . . Freeman is to be congratulated on a broad-brush approach that throws the main issue into sharp focus. . . . [He] has added a new level of understanding." -The Times Higher Education Supplement

"A fascinating account." -The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Engrossingly readable and very thoughtful. . . . Freeman draws our attention to myriad small but significant phenomena. . . . His fine book is both a searching look at the past and a salutary and cautionary reminder for us in our difficult present." -The New York Sun

"One of the best books to date on the development of Christianity. . . . Beautifully written and impressively annotated, this is an indispensable read for anyone interested in the roots of Christianity and its implications for our modern worldview. . . . Essential." -Choice

"Engaging. . . . Refreshing. . . . A memorable account. . . . The author is always interesting and well informed. Freeman's study moves with ease between political and intellectual history. . . . The cumulative effect is impressive." -The Times Literary Supplement

"A fine book for a popular audience that enjoys history, clear writing, and subject matter that reflects our own time." -Houston Chronicle

"The narrative is clear and fluent, the nomenclature is studiously precise . . . and the theological conflicts of the fourth century are analyzed with . . . subtlety." -History Today

"Ambitious, groundbreaking. . . . In the tradition of . . . Karen Armstrong's A History of God . . . a scholarly history that is accessible, passionate and energetic." -Hartford Advocate

"Freeman has a talent for narrative history and for encapsulating the more arcane disputes of ancient historians and theologians. . . . He manages not only to make these disputes interesting, but also to show why they mattered so much. It is a coup that few books on the early church pull off." -The Independent

"Engaging and clearly written." -The World and I

"[A] lucid account of an intellectual and social transformation that continues to shape the way Christianity is experienced and understood." -The Dallas Morning News

Describes the first alliance of church and state in the fourth century, marked by the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity, and how this decision irrevocably compromised the Roman empire's intellectual tradition of rationalism, paved the way toward a narrow religious orthodoxy, and aided the development of Christian anti-Semitism. Reprint. 17,500 first printing.