Dominion of God: Christendom and Apocalypse in the Middle Ages by Brett Edward Whalen provides an interesting look into the Medieval understanding of prophecy, apocalyptic literature, the crusades and the Catholic understanding of bringing the Christian church into "one fold" under "one shepherd."The book is written for an academic audience and requires an understanding of Catholic Medieval Theology. I would most highly recommend the book to those interested in the ninth century to thirteenth century Catholic Medieval theologians and their understanding of antichrist, the universal pontiff, theology of history, the crusades and eschatology. The book combats the false notion that the theology of dispensationalism is a modern invention by Darby. The book goes to great pains to discuss how different theologians - most notably Joachim of Fiore (an entire chapter is devoted to him) - attempted to figure out how and when the Antichrist would come into the world. Much time is spent by these different Medieval authors explaining the seven different ages they believed led up to the final apocalyptic age in their own time and the imminent return of judgment, Christ, and tribulation (often followed by a Sabbath period of Christian peace).The book is a bit long, so I would only recommend it to those willing to put the time and energy into a mostly academic and heady book. Sometimes one feels like they are hearing the same thing over and over again, but in the end the book provides a solid framework for those who want to better understand the basis for a pre-modern apocalyptic understanding of Christianity (which influenced, very strongly, the later modern notions of apocalypse).There are also about a hundred pages of endnotes for those wishing to dwelve further into the subject.Note: This book was provided free of charge to the reviewer by Harvard University Press.