Christ the King-Lord of History: A Catholic World History from Ancient to Modern Times [Paperback]

Dr Anne W. Carroll (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2009

Here is a fast paced, highly readable and interesting Catholic world history. It clearly illustrates that Christ is the central figure in all of history. Unabashedly proud of our brilliant Catholic heritage, Dr Carroll examines all historical developments from the point of view of the Church and the enhancement or decline of the influence of the Church upon the historical scene. Whereas most secular histories written today give but a grudging acknowledgment to the role of the Catholic Church in forming Western and therefore modern civilization, this book makes the role of Christ and the contribution of His Church unquestionable. A great book for students, parents, history buffs and educators.

Product Details

• Paperback: 474 pages
• Publisher: TAN Books and Publishers; third edition (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895555034
• ISBN-13: 978-0895555038
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #553,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Readable but problematical, July 3, 2003

By 

Yumuri "Polilla" (NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christ the King-Lord of History: A Catholic World History from Ancient to Modern Times (Paperback)

As a traditionalist Catholic and a professional historian, I cannot recommend this book whole heartedly.
This book is a passable Catholic introduction to world history. Maybe I should say, a Catholic tweak on world history. By trying to Catholicize history, the author provides a fresh look but makes no contribution and actually distorts many issues.
There are major advantages to this book. It gives a point of view not normally found in other texts. It covers history in a readable style. It is primarily a survey book.
There are major cons. The author ignores the contributions of major civilizations or glosses oevr them. The author also attributes ideas to time periods where they did not enter into play. Take, for example, the idea of distributism.
I would recommend this book as additional reading but not as the main textbook in schools or hoemschool history programs.

45 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What did Jesus do in History?, February 9, 2008

By 

Amaranth "music fan" (Northern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christ the King-Lord of History: A Catholic World History from Ancient to Modern Times (Paperback)

"Christ the King,Lord of History" has a few positive aspects (it's the seminal text for many Catholic homeschoolers). It doesn't secularize history. It acknowledges the Catholic contribution to world history. It doesn't have the political correctness of public school history textbooks- but,like them,it is biased,and the bias leads inevitably to inaccuracies.

"Christ the King,Lord of History" sanitizes and sugar-coats abuses Catholics have engaged in throughout history. Carroll rationalizes the restrictions placed on Jews after Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire. According to her reasoning, Jews' freedom of movement (esp. during Holy Week&Easter)&freedom of religion presented a tremendous danger to Christians. Jewish men HAD to wear special clothing to protect the virtue of Christian women. Carroll rationalizes the oppression of the Roma (Gypsies),saying they basically deserved it,since they're thieves and kidnappers anyhow. So,when Carroll condemns the second-class citizen treatment of Jews in Islamic countries,it's a case of the pot calling the kettle black. She rationalizes the oppression of heretics and non-Catholics,saying it was to protect the Faith. In her view,it's okay to execute heretics,because it's all about saving souls. So much for an open mind... If her faith is so strong,why does she think it was great that people who think differently were once killed for their ideas? It sounds like Orwellian thoughtcrimes to me.

"Christ the King,Lord of History" gets outrageous when Carroll condemns Martin Luther King,Jr and Nelson Mandela. Carroll views the movement for de-segregation as a vast Communist conspiracy to cause chaos in the US and the battle against apartheid as a Communist conspiracy to destroy South Africa. Yet Carroll has the audacity to say racism is wrong. Huh? Never mind Martin Luther King praised natural law&was a Christian minister.

When it comes to WWII,Carroll praises Spanish dictator Francisco Franco as a great Catholic. Never mind the fact he was a fascist,and that non-Catholics/non-Christians couldn't engage in public worship (sounds a lot like Saudi Arabia,where non-Muslims can't worship publicly)

"Christ the King,Lord of History" is a meta-narrative,full of propaganda. It sugarcoats and sanitized oppression,further promoting the view that history is written by the winners&those who have the power. Carroll's ideology can be summed up as- might makes right,and power is everything. In a sense,her book reads like a mirror-image of Marxist histories,and just as accurate (NOT!) as the history textbooks in the former Soviet Union. Carroll's ideal world is reminiscent of "1984" (she does praise Joe McCarthy's red-baiting),except it's Big Church,not Big Brother. What's tragic is that this book would further fuel anti-Catholicism&give militant atheists like Philip Pullman more reasons for what they believe. Her worship of power is insulting to Jesus,who embraced the Cross&taught love for all. What would Jesus do? He wouldn't oppress.

19 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent survey of World History from a Catholic viewpoint., May 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Christ the King-Lord of History: A Catholic World History from Ancient to Modern Times (Paperback)

This book is an excellent text for High School World History. My 15 year old won't tell you that this is his favorite book, but he did read his assignments without grumping (most days) and retained most of what he read. My neoPagan brother-in-law skimmed the book and declared it a fairly complete, if somewhat biased text. The author explains bias -- and her bias -- in her preface. Her "bias" is pretty obvious from the title of the text. We'll be using her _Christ and the Americas_ as a basis for our study of American History this year.