This work of The Great Apostasy by James E. Talmage is one of the pre-eminant books written by any apostle or prophet of the LDS Church. It was included as part of the Missionary Library for more than 40 years. 

In this book, Elder Talmage details the falling away of the early Christian Church in 3 parts:

1. The Jewish persecution upon the young Christian Church starting immediately after inception
2. The Roman persecution upon the young Christian Church starting in about 70 AD
3. The internal doctrinal struggles to keep the doctrine pure starting immediately after inception

The book has gone through several updates over the years. Many of the early updates were designed to draw attention away from what the early church developed into, after the general apostasy had taken place. The early church organization morphed into something else.