St Paul

Karen Armstrong is an amazing writer. As with other of her works, this is a heavily referenced history book, yet is written in such a way that you are just swept along in the story, like reading an epic novel. It is not often that a non-fiction work with footnotes and a bibliography turns out to be an unputdownable page-turner that has me on the edge of my seat and gets finished in under 24 hours!

What a book!

This is not a religious polemic, it should be approached as a work of historical study, with an open and enquiring mind - it often examines different angles of interpretation and I can imagine this might upset some people. Aside from the excellent writing style the book's greatest strength is putting events in their cultural, economic and historical context, something that has greatly increased my understanding of Paul, the historical individual, as well as enhanced my understanding of the use and misuse of his teachings over the years.

This book tries to tell a critical moment in history and manages to bring that world to life.