Each century brings a new challenge to the Church. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries have seen the rise of powers that have tried to usurp the proper authority of the Church. Nations have tried to make her a political tool. Atheistic communism has attempted to destroy her completely. But time has brought her renewed vitality as well. A spirit of devotion has quickened the heart of Catholicism in the last two hundred years. The Church in the Modern World follows the dramatic progress of the Church as she deals with political and social controversy in Europe and the Americas, establishes missions in Africa, Asia and Oceania, and is reconciled with the separated Churches of the East. The authors examine the Church's contribution in all fields and all lands, devoting special chapters to the liturgical and devotional revivals and to Catholic scholarship. This account of the Church's activities throughout the world is fully illustrated with nineteenth-century prints and modern photographs. Gordon Albion, fellow of the Royal Historical Society and member of the Catholic Record Society, received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of London and his doctorate in Historical Sciences from the University of Louvain, Belgium. A former professor of Church history, he is the author of several historical biographies, and of Volume 3 in the New Library of Catholic Knowledge. Robert Nowell was received into the Catholic Church while at Oxford University. A journalist of varied experience with both secular and religious publications, he is at present assistant editor of The Tablet.