Europe and the Faith

First published in 1920, Europe and the Faith is Belloc's popular history of European civilization from the time of the Roman Empire. From the outset, the author's goal is clear. He intends to show readers how, through the Romans and Catholicism, Europe came to be in its present state: "Europe is the Church, and the Church is Europe." Students of both history and religion will find this treatise a quirky apology for the influence of Catholicism in Europe. French writer and thinker HILAIRE BELLOC (1870-1953) is known as "the man who wrote a library." He expounded extensively on a number of subjects, including French and British history, military strategy, satire, comic and serious verse, literary criticism, topography and travel, translations, and religious, social, and political commentary. Among his most famous works are The Path to Rome (1902) and Emmanuel Burden (1903).