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It did not take me 365 days to read.
On This Day in Christian Histroy, was written as a daily devotional with a short, one page, entry for each day sharing a story from history that happened on that day in the past 2,000 years. It was not suprising then, to read about St. Patrick on March 17th.
While there are 365 stories, they do not introduce us to 365 people in history. As a result, you may read about an individual, let's take Martin Luther as an example, then a few days later read more about them. At times this gets a bit confusing as the story of an indivual's life is told in bits and pieces throughout the year. This format makes the book work far better as a devotional than a history book.
I do not believe that Robert J. Morgan intend the book to be read in the brief manner in which I did. This becomes clear as you read on.
While I enjoyed the read, and would recommend it as an introduction to Church history for people who wish to know more, there were a few things I'd love to see different. First, as is the case with most history books, it can be dry. I don't believe this to be necessarily the author's fault, as I suspect it would be incredibly difficul to craft a one page summary of complex historical events in a creative and entertaining way. Therefore, I would not classify Robert J. Morgan as a dry author.This would be especially unfair as I've read nothing further by him.
A second suggested revision for the book would be an index of people. There is a topical index which might be helpful, and certainly fits with the devotional aspect of the book, but an index of people would could transform this devotional into quite the helpful resource.
The final suggestion would be to update some of the innacuracies. Twice in the book we read the phrase "modern day Czechoslovakia." Last I checked, Czechoslovakia doesn't exist.
Despite all these three things, On This Day in Christian History, is an educational, enlightening, devotional that will hopefully leave readers appreciating not only where we stand in Christian History, but also what others have gone throught to advance the gospel. As a devotional it leads others closer to God by showing him faithful in the most dire of circumstances.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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