The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World
Sep 2017 · Pan Macmillan
4.8star
5 reviewsreport
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496
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About this ebook
'A searingly passionate book' - Bettany Hughes, author of The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
In The Darkening Age, historian Catherine Nixey tells the little-known – and deeply shocking – story of how a militant religion deliberately tried to extinguish the teachings of the Classical world, ushering in unquestioning adherence to the 'one true faith'.
The Roman Empire had been generous in embracing and absorbing new creeds. But with the coming of Christianity, everything changed. This new faith, despite preaching peace, was violent, ruthless and intolerant. And once it became the religion of empire, its zealous adherents set about the destruction of the old gods. Their altars were upturned, their temples demolished and their statues hacked to pieces. Books, including great works of philosophy and science, were consigned to the pyre. It was an annihilation.
A Book of the Year in the Daily Telegraph, the Spectator, the Observer, and BBC History Magazine
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
Winner of the Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award for Nonfiction
'Nixey combines the authority of a serious academic with the expressive style of a good journalist.' – The Times
In The Darkening Age, historian Catherine Nixey tells the little-known – and deeply shocking – story of how a militant religion deliberately tried to extinguish the teachings of the Classical world, ushering in unquestioning adherence to the 'one true faith'.
The Roman Empire had been generous in embracing and absorbing new creeds. But with the coming of Christianity, everything changed. This new faith, despite preaching peace, was violent, ruthless and intolerant. And once it became the religion of empire, its zealous adherents set about the destruction of the old gods. Their altars were upturned, their temples demolished and their statues hacked to pieces. Books, including great works of philosophy and science, were consigned to the pyre. It was an annihilation.
A Book of the Year in the Daily Telegraph, the Spectator, the Observer, and BBC History Magazine
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
Winner of the Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award for Nonfiction
'Nixey combines the authority of a serious academic with the expressive style of a good journalist.' – The Times
Ratings and reviews
4.8
5 reviews
theotherguy7145
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June 26, 2021
Passionately written, so that the author's viewpoint is clear on the matters discussed, but well backed up with sources. This book goes a long way towards realising the extent of the damage that organised religion has done and is doing. A very interesting, if frustrating, read.
S Das
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July 4, 2018
Jesus was fabricated to wash some idiots' brain.
About the author
Catherine Nixey studied Classics at Cambridge and now works as a journalist at the Economist. Her writing has appeared in the Times, and the Financial Times, among others. She lives in England, with her husband. Her first book, The Darkening Age, was an international bestseller, and won a Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award.
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