David Wagner has admirably carried out the unenviable task of producing a concise introduction to the history of the Catholic Church since 1846, an era of rapidly shifting ideologies and world affairs.

This work is chronologically placed as the seventh volume of Ave Maria Press’ “Reclaiming Catholic History” series, which endeavors to provide a series of short, accessible introductions to eras of Church history. What sets this series apart is its approach to history which desires to free itself from the primacy of the present age in order to take seriously the world which the subjects inhabited and moved through, consequently taking religious motives seriously and, for the believer, the Providential acting of God in history.

Wagner succeeds at his task by evaluating the era in light of its pope and councils, a top down approach which helps show that the Church was not a passive or reactionary force in the modern world - but was a prophetic voice making new eternal truths. This does complicate the ability to examine as fully the non-papal developments of the era or to have the same natural flow in some of the ‘You Be the Judge’ and ‘Up Close and Personal’ features when compared to other volumes in the series. However, I think this reflects more on the modern distemper and developments trying to be covered in such a short work than the ability of the author.

This is a valuable resource for Catholics trying to understand the role of the Church in the modern world, produced by an author whose academic and professional background lends itself to the task.

As a convert to the Catholic Church, this book has become a new, favorite resource for me. Growing up Protestant, I was schooled in the reformation, Luther, Wesley, Calvin and so forth. However, when I came home to the Catholic Church, I found myself a bit lost when it came to my knowledge of the popes, many of the saints, appearances of Mary and many aspects of Church history. (Also, to my absolute joy, this book is one in a series! So now I can learn even more! Cue the confetti.)

This book is packed full of information and covers some of my very, very favorite saints; Saint Faustina, Saint Josephine Bakhita and Saint John Henry Newman, to name a few. The time period ranges from the election of Blessed Pius IX to the death of Saint John Paul II, a period of Church history that I was greatly lacking in knowledge of. But the greatest thing about this book is that it is written to be understandable. It isn't so lofty that I need a commentary or cliff notes, nor is it so elementary that I feel that I am learning nothing. It was written beautifully and comfortably, but at a level that required me to slow down and study a bit. Literally my favorite type of writing on the planet. A definite recommend!

This book looks at the history of the Catholic Church from the reign of Pius IX to the death of John Paul II. As should be expected, the book does not go into great depths on any subject but covers the events and issues of the turbulent times in an even-handed way. Although I disagree with Wagner on several issues, he manages to walk down the orthodox middle on topics such as Vatican II.

Where the book falls short is in dealing with the reign of John Paul II. Here the distance needed for a fair analysis is missing. By calling him "John Paul the Great" the author is making a judgement that he does not back up with facts, nor is he giving us the clear judgement of the Church on this pontificate.

In addition in his long section on the clerical abuse scandals on the early 2000's his analysis, while accurate is too lengthy for the other "you be the judge" sections in the book, but does not really provide sufficient analysis.

This volume is useful but not nearly as good as the other volumes in the series.