The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to Christianity - Softcover

"An absorbing account of the most important event in the history of Europe: its conversion to Christianity. . . . Fletcher is a stylist not merely in the sense that like Gibbon he is a master of the memorable sentence, but in the historian's task of weaving the particular instance into the web of a compelling narrative."--Raymond Carr, "The Spectator

In a work of splendid scholarship that reflects both a firm mastery of difficult sources and a keen intuition, one of Britain's foremost medievalists tells the story of the Christianization of Europe. It is a very large story, for conversion encompassed much more than religious belief. With it came enormous cultural change: Latin literacy and books, Roman notions of law and property, and the concept of town life, as well as new tastes in food, drink, and dress. Whether from faith or by force, from self-interest or by revelation, conversion had an immense impact that is with us even today. It is Richard Fletcher's achievement in this superb work that he makes that impact both felt and understood.