A lecture series by The Teaching Company called "The New Testament" taught by Bart Ehrman is an enjoyable academic introduction to the history of Early Christianity.
I also recommend another lecture series called "From Jesus to Christianity" by The Modern Scholar taught by Thomas F. Madden.
My grandfather who was raised on a dairy farm in what is now Bellevue, WA, once said to me in reference to the hills east of Lake Sammamish where Army truck drivers trained during WWII: “the best driver is the American Negro.”