If you’re unwilling to read a 15 volume history, I believe you cannot do worse than Kurt Aland’s two volume history of Christianity. He is an excellent scholar, well respected amongst his peers. I suggest following up with a collection of essays and source material as well.The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity by John McMannersReadings in Church History, Vols. 1-3 by Colman J, Barry, O.S.B.-----Kurt Aland (1915-1994)German editor of the Greek New Testament used for almost all English Bible translations, the Novum Testamentum Graece (also known as the Nestle-Aland text, based on the work of Eberhard Nestle).One of the world's most renowned textual critics from the 1940s onward, he also helped establish the text for the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament. His wife Barbara was director the Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Other titles: A History of Christianity; A Synopsis of the Four Gospels; The Text of the New Testament (w/ Barbara Aland) ( )

If you’re unwilling to read a 15 volume history, I believe you cannot do worse than Kurt Aland’s two volume history of Christianity. He is an excellent scholar, well respected amongst his peers. I suggest following up with a collection of essays and source material as well.The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity by John McManners Readings in Church History, Vols. 1-3 by Colman J, Barry, O.S.B.-----Kurt Aland (1915-1994)German editor of the Greek New Testament used for almost all English Bible translations, the Novum Testamentum Graece (also known as the Nestle-Aland text, based on the work of Eberhard Nestle). One of the world's most renowned textual critics from the 1940s onward, he also helped establish the text for the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament. His wife Barbara was director the Institute for New Testament Textual Research. Other titles: A History of Christianity; A Synopsis of the Four Gospels; The Text of the New Testament (w/ Barbara Aland). ( )