The Story of Christianity, a sumptuously produced pictorial history that begins with Abraham and moves forward to Billy Graham, is a spectacular feat in all respects. In less than 250 pages, authors Michael Collins and Matthew A. Price convey a credible and near-comprehensive sense of this tremendously complex religion. The text is sophisticated yet accessible because the book wisely balances intellectual and everyday concerns (summarising the key points of Thomas Aquinas, for instance, and later describing "Faith and Daily Life in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries"). Some readers will also appreciate the thorough index and glossary of terms on topics as diverse as Jansenism, Absolution and Methodism. The best thing about The Story of Christianity, however, is the variety and quality of colourful images (Michelangelo"s Sistine Chapel, a Christian procession in Papua New Guinea) that it will leave lodged, probably permanently, in your mind. --Michael Joseph Gross