The Church of the Classical Age: The Era of Great Splinteringis the seventh installment in Henri Daniel-Rops' magnificent History of the Church of Christ. This volume concludes the examination of the "churches outside the Church," treating John Wesley and Methodism, the Protestant origins of the United States, and the religious awakening in "Holy Russia"; sifts through the "storm and stress" afflicting the Church-from the suppression of Jesuits and emergence of Josephism to the fateful First Partition of Poland and the ever-increasing signals of impending revolution across Europe; and, lastly, offers an encouraging account of healthy ecclesial, cultural, and political developments as well as portraits of the saintly Remnant, from the humble St. Benedict Joseph Labre and St. Paul of the Cross to the brilliant St. Alphonsus of Liguori, which together promised a bulwark against the imminent onslaught of rebellion and disorder.

The eighteenth century saw the Church-and, indeed, the world-stand as upon the knife's edge; "stray but a little" and they would fail. With Daniel-Rops' typical talent for engaging historical narrative, The Church of the Classical Age: The Era of Great Splintering chronicles the steps (and mis-steps) that brought the Church into the harsh light of the scaffold and reveals the grace which empowered her to "preserve her loyalties intact."