The History of the Church contains ten books that breakdown Christianity’s first three hundred years chronologically. The first book uses a variety of sources to uncover an early history of the life of Christ and subsequent books cover important events such as the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the waves of persecution against Christians by emperors such as Diocletian, through to the emergence of Christianity as an accepted religion under the Emperor Constantine. Eusebius was writing in the early fourth century, just years after Constantine had risen to become Emperor and put a halt to the persecution of Christians. While writing his most famous work he had access to the Theological Library of Caesarea and made use of many documents, including acts of the martyrs, letters, extracts from earlier Christian writings, lists of bishops, and similar sources, so that his work contains materials not elsewhere preserved. This book is essential reading for someone interested in how Christianity emerged from an obscure and persecuted sect to become the primary religion of the Roman Empire.