Exceptionally reader-friendly
Salisbury's The Blood of Martyrs is a wonderfully-constructed examination of the martyrs of the early Christian church. Like many other histories, Salisbury is careful to place the phenomenon of martyrdom within its proper context. However, she also examines the effect that the martyrs had upon the Church itself, and how the practice ultimately was suppressed by the Church leaders themselves. As an academic resource, Salisbury's work is quite worthy. It is succinct and to the point where others in the field become bogged down in the minutiae of individual cases or fine points of theology. I would recommend it very highly to anyone researching this particular aspect of the early Church.
