In a book club? Please take our annual Book Club Survey

Karen Armstrong

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the Book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Great Transformation by Karen Armstrong

The Great Transformation

The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions

by Karen Armstrong
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (8):
  • Readers' Rating (3):
  • First Published:
  • Mar 1, 2006, 496 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Apr 2007, 560 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Karen Armstrong

This article relates to The Great Transformation

Print Review

Karen Armstrong spent seven years as a nun in the Catholic Society of the Holy Child Jesus during the 1960s and later wrote a tell-all book, Through the Narrow Gate (1982) that bemoaned the restrictive life.

She teaches Christianity at London's Leo Baeck College for the Study of Judaism. It was her first trip to Jerusalem in 1983 that piqued her interest in commonality among faiths. At the time she was an atheist who was "wearied" by religion and "worn out by years of struggle;" but the trip gave her back "a sense of what faith is all about." 

Her books include A History of God (1993), Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths (1996) and The Battle for God (2000).  Continue bio at BookBrowse.....


Also of interest:
A 30 minute NPR radio interview (New York Public Radio, 30 mins).

Select quotes from this interview:

"Too many religious people want to be right not compassionate."
"The practice of compassion is religion."
"Religion is designed not to answer our questions but to help us to ask them and to hold us in an attitude of awe and wonder ... a lot of science does that too."

Did you know? The term Axial Age was coined in 1948 by German philosopher Karl Jaspers to describe the approximate 600 year period from around 800 BC during which the foundations of the world's great religions was laid.

Filed under Books and Authors

This "beyond the book article" relates to The Great Transformation. It originally ran in May 2006 and has been updated for the April 2007 paperback edition. Go to magazine.

This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access become a member today.
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $50 for 12 months or $18 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    The Wager
    by David Grann
    From the bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a gripping story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Harlem Rhapsody
    by Victoria Christopher Murray

    The extraordinary story of the woman who ignited the Harlem Renaissance.

  • Book Jacket

    Three Days in June
    by Anne Tyler

    A new Anne Tyler novel destined to be an instant classic: a socially awkward mother of the bride navigates the days before and after her daughter's wedding.

Who Said...

Censorship, like charity, should begin at home: but unlike charity, it should end there.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

D to T N

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.