The Life and Times of Constantine the Great: The First Christian Emperor

Author - D. G. Kousoulas ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Hardcover Book item from Rutledge Books, Inc. was reviewed on 4-Nov-2008.

Search ISBN:1887750614 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. The Life and Times of Constantine the Great: The First Christian Emperor Reference Book. Classifications : General Historical Biographies & Memoirs Subjects Books General AAS Historical Biographies & Memoirs Subjects Books General Biographies & Memoirs Subjects Books General AAS Biographies & Memoirs Subje . Click the following link to view the cover of The Life and Times of Constantine the Great: The First Christian Emperor.

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1) Hardcover Book The Life and Times of Constantine the Great: The First Christian Emperor by Rutledge Books, Inc.. This is an excellent book. After centuries of analysis and research into the ancient Roman world have been written, Professor Kousoulas writes a very intelligent and objective look at the life and times of Constantine The Great. He hopes that you see what he sees. He works hard to bring dimension and reality to the days and nights and events of this time. He does not, as so many historians before him, cloud our effort to illuminate historical images and happenings with his ego and ethnocentric sway.¤

2) Hardcover Book The Life and Times of Constantine the Great: The First Christian Emperor by Rutledge Books, Inc.. I got the book because of a recent fascination with Roman political history and because Constantine was the first "Christian" emperor. I also wanted to do a pre-read of the history before my wife and I head to Rome/Greece/Israel later this year.

The book was highly enjoyable and readable for a lay person like myself. It gave me a real flavor for the political ebb and flow that was empire politics, how emperors came to the purple and how large the empire of the period (AD 300-350) was and how complex to govern.

I wanted to know why and how Constantine came to embrace Christianity and the writer successfully conveyed the degree of religiosity of the public. He also gave brief explanations of the more significant of the competing "non-main stream" sects that were around at the time and how Constantine came to favor Christianity among them. Finally, there is a fair amount of detail provided around the subject of early church history, issues and personalities.

Where possible, the author uses citations from the actual writings of Constantine - which gives some texture to the subjects and brings the times to life. Overall, this was one of the books which, once completed, I was glad that I had picked up.¤

3) Hardcover Book The Life and Times of Constantine the Great: The First Christian Emperor by Rutledge Books, Inc.. I disliked it, even though it is patently written to amuse the general reader, because it stresses the issues that I don´t care about. Just like it was a biography of a modern celebrity, the author goes on about the private life, loves, cares, deeds of this man.On the background are these things that were going on in the world and that happened to cross the paths of our "heroe". These other issues are dismissed almost as a bother. And I should think it was the other way round. If Constantine´s life matters today is because of the times he lived in, the spread of Christianity into Europe and European history in general.

A completely flawed book because it takes the leaves for the carrot. Even worse: being a highly reader-friendly book, it becomes a rather obscene exercise of history, an object of riducule for achieving the hardest thing but missing the target totally. Well-told; only the wrong story. The title is absurd and misleading.¤

4) Hardcover Book The Life and Times of Constantine the Great: The First Christian Emperor by Rutledge Books, Inc.. I have read this book twice, and found it to be equally as good the first time as the second. One reviewer cites Kousoulas´ treatment of this subject as "vapid". I know where he was coming from, but heartily disagree. If you want a complete scholarly work on Constantine, it would require volumes...something you simply cannot get in one book. I found many things in this book that I wanted to know more about, so I bought more book sand read more about the specific events I was interested in.
The book is very readable. Something I look for when reading history. History can be dull and lifeless, or engaging and animated. Such is the case with this book. In my opinion, this book is a must-read. Lively and well-written, Kousoulas delivers.
Since reading this book, I have read others on Constantine, one on Diacletian, one about the Council of Nicea and another about the Coptic Church in Egypt. In other words, if you want more detail, read more!¤

5) Hardcover Book The Life and Times of Constantine the Great: The First Christian Emperor by Rutledge Books, Inc.. An excellent detailed and riviting account of Constantine, his childhood and rise to power, the Roman empire in general before and after Constantine took power, and how Constantine converted to Christianity and what he did for Christianity afterwards. I highly recommend this book to two categories of people: those interested in Roman history and those interested in the early history of Christianity.¤

6) Hardcover Book The Life and Times of Constantine the Great: The First Christian Emperor by Rutledge Books, Inc.. This is an enriched biography of Constantine the Great. Without compromising historical accuracy, it brings before the eyes of the reader as vividly as possible Constantine´s fascinating life, filling in the gaps by exploring the ancient records in Greek and Latin and the findings of modern scholarship, reconstructing events or offering explanations to ancient riddles. It is astonishing how little the broad public in the West knows about Constantine. Yet, he is the man who gave a new direction to world history. One may wonder if Christianity would have survived if he had not embraced it with his imperial authority. Constantine´s impact on our world is not the only reason for reading his story. His life is so rich in drama. excitement, tragedy, violence, intrigue and high adventure that the story can be as engrossing as a good work of fiction. "Prof. Kousoulas is a master story-teller."¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 2-Dec-2008, 18877506149781887750615, 580-500-140-090-880-141-8

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