The Rise and Fall of the Holy Roman Empire is the only complete history of the Holy Roman Empure currently in print. The vain attempt of the Holy Roman Empire to restore the legacy of ancient Rome is recounted in full. Unlike other histories, Dr. Criswell covers both emperors and popes, who were by charter co-rulers of the empire, and discusses the whole empire as it extended at various times far beoynd Germany and Italy to Spain, England, France, and even to Constantiniople, Jerusalem, and the Americas. Preferring facts to interpretation, Dr. Criswell has presented this history as a chronoligcal narrative, discussing each and every emperor and pope, as well as the dominant kings of Europe, from the time of Charlemagne to the empire's fall under Napoleon. The result is a history that combines Church history with secular history and is the first comprehensive, yet conscise, history of the Holy Roman Empire.