British
Catherine Nixey is a British journalist and classicist. She studied classics at Cambridge and worked as a teacher before turning to journalism. She later wrote for The Times, where she was a features writer and arts journalist. Her first book, The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World, appeared in 2017. It argues that early Christians destroyed temples, statues, books and schools of the classical world, and that this violence has been underplayed in popular accounts of the rise of Christianity. The book sold widely and was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize. Some historians of late antiquity criticised her selection of evidence, and the book prompted public debate about religious intolerance and the loss of ancient culture. Nixey writes in a lively, direct style for general readers, and her work is notable for bringing the history of late antiquity into popular discussion.