In this brilliantly-rendered portrait of tenth- and eleventh-century Europe, Tom Holland examines the Christian community's sense of foreboding and anticipation of the widely anticipated Second Coming of Christ. With the disappointment of that expectation, the Christian people of western Europe set to the heroic task of building a Jerusalem on earth themselves.

THE FORGE OF CHRISTENDOM is the story of an epic religious journey begun on a continent ravaged by invasion and social collapse, and how an anticipation of the end of days led to a new beginning.