Here are the saints and sinners, popes and kings that God used to shape his Church and change the world. You'll meet Clovis and Charlemagne, Luther and Pope Leo, Suleiman and St. Francis, the Arians, the Franks, the Huguenots, and others whose sins or sacrifices altered the course of history.

Here, too, are the wars and plagues, the ideas and institutions -- and, yes, the miracles -- that gave birth to our Christian civilization and often threatened to doom it. Experience the battles of Tours and Lepanto, the Crusades, the Russian Revolution, and Fatima, the miracle that foretold (and offered a way to prevent) the conflicts that killed millions in the twentieth century.

Wars and terrorism have rendered the first years of our new century no less bloody. Has God now abandoned us?

Ten Dates Every Catholic Should Know finds the answer in history: from the first days of the Christian era, at key moments when civilization hung in the balance, God has intervened -- sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically -- but ever and always he has come forward himself or given strength to those who were faithful to him. Consider, for example:

• Constantine, the pagan general who, in a desperate hour, saw a vision that made him a Christian and led to the conversion of the entire Roman Empire
• Pope St. Leo, who confronted Attila the Hun face-to-face and, without sword or dagger, turned back this "Scourge of God" and all his murderous hordes
• The surprising victories of the outgunned armies that thrust back the Moors, the Turks, and the barbarians -- just when Christendom faced annihilation
• Plus: St. Genevieve, Pepin the Short, Pope St. Pius V, St. Margaret Mary, and countless others who, in crucial moments, were called by God to save his people and give new life to our culture and his Church.

Ten Dates Every Catholic Should Know is essential reading for any Catholic who wants to understand the history of our Faith. But it will give you more than knowledge: you'll close this book with renewed confidence that no matter how dark and dangerous the times may be, God has never abandoned his people . . . and never will.