History is a chronological record of significant events (as affecting a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes or a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events. In this category you will find our history books - general surveys of history and books related to specific periods of history in the Church such as the Patristic Era or the Middle Ages.

"History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illuminates reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us tidings of antiquity." Cicero

The history of the founding of the Church up to the present time is a composite of saints and sinners, of triumphs and failures, of trial and error.  What About Those Councils points out some of the more and less important items of the Church's twenty-one Councils from Nicaea (325) to Vatican II (1962).  You'll find interesting facts and amusing anecdotes like: How the early …

Fr. A. G. Sertillanges These pages will intensify your love of Jesus by burning the events of His Passion into your memory and imagination. Written by a priest who lived in Jerusalem and spent many a day walking and praying in the streets where Jesus walked and prayed, this famous devotional classic gives you vivid details not included in the Gospels; and it brings the Gospel events to …

This is the most acclaimed, short introduction to the Crusades - by  the world's foremost authority on the subject! Find out the truth for yourself and separate fact from fiction. Few attempts had been made to defined 'the crusade' before the first edition of this book was published in 1977. Since then, a number of historians have built on Jonathan Riley-Smith's original conclusions. Now …

Gerard Moore How do we pray our way through the Mass? What does this celebration require of us? How do its various parts touch us, change us, place our hearts in God’s hands? Why the Mass Matters addresses these questions and more as it awakens believers to the lively spirit of the liturgy. This readable book will enable Sunday worshipers, catechists, parish liturgy-team members, and youth …

A short, broad-shouldered northern Frenchman, approaching his fortieth year, a man with long arms, powerfully built, and famous for the strength of his hands, clean-shaven, square jawed, obese, vigorous-all that-decided, at about five o'clock of an autumn evening,the destinies of England and, in great part, of the the world." (Page 1).   In William the Conqueror the great Catholic …

Translated, with an introduction, by Sister Benedicta Ward SLG The spiritual insights of the fourth century Desert Fathers collected by disciples who sought them out, asking them to ‘Give me a word’, from the Anonymous Series of the Apophthegmata patrum. This book is a Cistercian publication.

Mary Frances Coady Alfred Delp was a proud German, a Jesuit priest, a Nazi resister, and a martyr. Executed by the Nazis in 1945 for crimes against the Third Reich, Delp left a legacy in letters written from his prison cell. This book tells Delp's life story through a compilation of correspondence with his friends and family. It reveals his struggle to maintain his faith in the face of …

By Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J. Father Walter Ciszek, S.J., author of the best-selling He Leadeth Me, tells here the gripping, astounding story of his twenty-three years in Russian prison camps in Siberia, how he was falsely imprisoned as an "American spy", the incredible rigors of daily life as a prisoner, and his extraordinary faith in God and commitment to his priestly vows and …

From his popular public addresses to his New York Times articles on evolution and faith, Cardinal Schonborn has emerged as a worldwide figure in Catholic life. In With Jesus Every Day, Cardinal Schonborn invites the reader to a deeper understanding of Jesus as Christ. He traces the life of Jesus and looks at how the faith was passed on and developed through the ages into our present time. With …

This international bestseller is the official biography of Pope John Paul II written by acclaimed author, George Weigel. The book traces the life of the pope from his childhood in Poland to the Great Jubilee. The book contains black and white and color pictures of the pope throughout his life.

St. Patrick did not consider himself a man of letters; the short texts that survive reflect, however, his powerful personality. A contemporary and fellow missionary of St. Patrick, Secundinus is an enthusiastic admirer and defender of St. Patrick in this hymn. 

Margherita Marchione Yours Is a Precious Witness contains information about the Holocaust and the relationship between Jews and Catholics in wartime Italy. This outstanding work encourages readers to look beyond the superficial treatment afforded to Pope Pius XII and the misrepresentations that have circulated in the past. Noted scholar Margherita Marchione traces both documentary and …