The story of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome as told by a noted British architectural historian deals with Peter himself as saint and man, the early Christians and Christianity in the making. Constantine was the first to make the core of his greatness Christianity; through him the conflict between church and state was resolved. It was he who placed a basilica stop a cemetery on the steep slope of Vatican Hill. The rest of the book is given over to papal patrons and their architects and the progress made on Saint Peter's which was ultimately ""a colossal token of victory."" Copiously illustrated throughout--47 pages in color, over 250 black-and-white drawings, photographs, prints, plans. Considered definitive by the publishers, the style will not extend the interest of the book beyond the scope of the architectural-historical to the mass of the laity.