Constantine the Great: And the Christian Revolution [Paperback]

G. P. Baker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 9, 2001

Roman Emperor Constantine is one of the most momentous figures in the history of Christianity, a ruler whose conversion turned the cult of Jesus into a world religion. Classical scholar Baker tells of the changing Roman world in which Constantine rose to power—an empire where feudalism was replacing the old senatorial government and the lands of the empire were split into two regions. It was also a place where customs from the East were replacing the old Roman values, preparing the way for the Byzantine Empire. Baker describes Constantine's unique conversion (which apparently did not prevent him from sacrificing to idols), his wars to control first the Roman army and then the Germans and the lands of Asia Minor, and finally the founding of Constantinople and the establishment of the monarchial system that dominated Europe for over a thousand years.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Mr. Baker makes an absorbing narrative out of Constantine's reign. His fluid, swiftly moving diction makes intricate situations clear and easy to comprehend. He has an admirable gift of selection, with a keen eye for essentials. Moreover, the fact that he has obviously been over all the ground he describes makes the geography of the most important scenes in Constantine's career as vivd and familiar to us as Long Island. (Louis Sherwin New York Evening Post )

Mr. Baker writes well. His narrative is intelligent, well organized, often witty and stimulating. The book is never dull; and such of its passages as the description of Constantine's campaigns against Maxentius, Licinius, and his other rivals (by which he rose to the role of the empire's sole Augustus) are vivid and dramatic and read with great interest. (Alexander Nazaroff The New York Times )

Historical and biographical writing reaches a very high level in this thoroughly scholarly and just as thoroughly readable account of the life and work of Constantine. (The Christian Century )

About the Author

Historian G. P. Baker (1879-1951) is the author of Hannibal, Augustus, Sulla the Fortunate, and Tiberius Caesar.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Cooper Square Press (August 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815411588
• ISBN-13: 978-0815411581
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,031,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent work on the man and his time., March 2, 2003

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JAG 2.0 (IN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Constantine the Great: And the Christian Revolution (Paperback)

A triumph! An excellent work! Covers, as suggested by the title, not simply the life of Constantine but also the time he lived in, the rise of Christianity, and the crisis of government that the Roman Empire found itself in.

The author thoroughly lays the groundwork for Constantine's appearance on the world stage with the arrangements created by Diocletian for transfer of power as well as the struggle between Senate and Army in Roman politics. The author gives insight into Constantine the general that always struck quickly and decisively. Brilliantly covers the dynamics of the Roman world and the rise of Christianity and it's significance to the governing of the empire. The author shows how the commitment of Christians to their cause changed the way the Roman world looked upon itself. Shows Constantine, warts and all, as a great man in a pivotal time in world history. Gives insight into why, following in his father Constantius' footsteps, Constantine not only granted tolerance for Christianity but also brought Church and Empire together in a union that would last a thousand years.

The military historian can profit from reading this book: Constantine was a man who, as Nathan Bedford Forrest would say, "got there firstest with the mostest" with a highly trained elite core (mobile striking force) that consistently defeated all opposition - even when outnumbered.

Students of the history of Christianity can profit from this book by becoming more familiar with the period during the Church's history when it endured some of it's greatest tribulations and it's greatest achievements.

Those interested in the Roman world will learn much about the time in which the power within the empire moved east and how much eastern political thought had changed the original Roman ideals of political power.

G.P. Baker writes in an engaging, enjoyable style. Highly readable for the average reader as well as the serious historian. Mr. Baker had one other advantage in writing this book: he did so decades before the rise of the cultural-marxist "revisionists" with their concommitant hatred of Christianity. Ignore the revisionist reviews and buy this book! It's an excellent work on this period of change within the Roman Empire and a very enjoyable read!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Constantine the Great...the most influential human being..., January 2, 2002

By 

R. Underhill - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Constantine the Great: And the Christian Revolution (Paperback)

...on the planet after Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed. Why? Two things: Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, thereby establishing the foundations of an Europe we knows today AND moved the seat of power from Rome to a Greek city that bear his name: Constantinople, thus established a new empire that would keep the Persians, the Arabs and later Islam in check for centuries to come. Had not Constantine did this, Europe would have been an Islamic continent, eventually. There's more to Constantine's contributions: he organized a loose confederation of Christian churches, long disarrayed and disorganized by a pagan Roman Empire, into the classical world's most powerful religious organization-the Holy Apostlic Church of the Fathers, the forerunner of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
G.P. Baker wrote a well-written biography book, published in 1930 or 1931, his sources on Constantine were limited due to lack of published works about Constantine in Baker's times. He did his best, for what he researched and put together in the best way he could do at the times.
Constantine the Great (born Flavius Valerius Constantius) have preserved an Empire that was in danger of collapse but he could not save his own family all because of his scheming wife. A breezy read, with no heavy-handed scholaristic details and very few half-page footnotes. Few map illustrations in this book are very nice and helpful but no pics.

17 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I'd be careful with this book., January 21, 2003

By 

Andrew J. Donnelly (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Constantine the Great: And the Christian Revolution (Paperback)

This isn't the book for you if you're looking for an unbiased history of Constantine. It's very dated and Baker definitely has an agenda (there is a severe overstatement of Constantine's commitment to Christianity). This takes away from the book's impact. There are several other books and authors that I would recommend to the serious reader.

This book can be useful, however, if one wants to chart how the "science" of history has progressed over the years. This book would not be able to be published in today's market -- it makes way too many assumptions, very rarely relies on or cites sources and does NOT do what a history should do -- provide an unbiased account of the events that took place.