Church History is a text written for upper high school and college courses as well as for adult reading. At 650-plus pages, tackling this text in just one school year would be quite an undertaking. I suggest either taking two years to complete the course or combine your religious studies with history and, perhaps, English composition. The text is well indexed, making it easy for reference use.
Though very interesting and well written, there is an enormous amount of material to cover. Once completed however, the student will have an excellent background in the Church's nearly-2,000 year history. Father Laux begins with the preparation of the world for the coming of Our Lord and then continues with the Pentecost and the founding of the physical Church on earth. He covers topics including the early Church Fathers, the Roman persecutions, the great heresies, the conversions of many nations, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the rise of Protestantism, the Catholic Reformation, the lives and contributions of many saints, and so much more.
Written in 1929, Church History ends with Pope Pius XII. If you wish to cover Vatican II in your Church history studies, you will need to supplement this text. This text has the Imprimatur and the Nihil Obstat. [M. Wittmann]
