MINNEAPOLIS (January 2, 2007) – CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, has chosen two titles from Fortress Press, Christian Origins and Late Ancient Christianity, for inclusion in their Outstanding Academic Titles list for 2006.

This prestigious list reflects the best in scholarly titles reviewed by Choice and brings with it the extraordinary recognition of the academic library community. Books are chosen for overall excellence in presentation and scholarship, importance relative to other literature in the field, distinction as a first treatment of a given subject in book or electronic form, originality or uniqueness of treatment, value to undergraduate students, and importance in building undergraduate library collections.

Irving E. Rockwood, editor & publisher of Choice, states, “These outstanding works were selected for their excellence in scholarship and presentation, the significance of their contribution to the field, and their value as important—often the first—treatment of their subject. Comprising just over 9 percent of the titles reviewed by Choice during the past year, and less than 3 percent of the more than 25,000 titles submitted to Choice during this same period, Outstanding Academic Titles are truly the ‘best of the best.’” Christian Origins, edited by Richard A. Horsley, and Late Ancient Christianity, edited by Virginia Burrus, are volumes one and two from A People’s History of Christianity: The Lived Religion of Christians in the First Two Thousand Years, a new series from Fortress Press.

In this heralded new series, over 100 scholars come together to uncover the neglected side of church history as they bare the religious ideas, and consciousness of “the people”—their assumptions, beliefs, values, habits, longings, terrors, anxieties and comforts in this is history “from below.” The revelations and insights are fascinating.

Dealing with a time when “Christians” were moving toward separation from the movement’s Jewish origins, the inaugural volume of A People’s History of Christianity, Christian Origins, tells “the people’s story” by gathering together evidence from the New Testament texts, archaeology, and other contemporary sources.

Volume 2, Late Ancient Christianity, explores everyday realities of Christians’ lives in the era of Christian ascendancy and Roman decline. Popular fiction, childrearing and toys, rituals of inclusion, the beginning of veneration of saints and shunning of heretics, the ascetic impulse, food practices—all these and more lend color and texture to the story of a “people’s” Christianity in this formative stage.

Christian Origins: A People’s History of Christianity, Vol. 1
Edited by Richard A. Horsley
Format: 7” x 9”, hardcover, 256 pp
ISBN: 978-0-8006-3411-7
Price: $35.00

Late Ancient Christianity: A People’s History of Christianity, Vol. 2
Edited by Virginia Burrus
Format: 7” x 9”, hardcover, 256 pp
ISBN: 978-0-8006-3412-4
Price: $35.00

Visit the companion Web site at www.peopleshistoryofchristianity.com