Compare prices for karen armstrong
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Karen Armstrong Islam: A Short History (Unabridged)
Best-selling author and renowned religious scholar Karen Armstrong presents a concise and articulate history of Islam, the world's fastest-growing faith....
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£7.75
at Audible UK
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Vintage A History of God
Pages: 528, Paperback, Vintage
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£6.59
at Amazon.co.uk
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Canongate Books Ltd A Short History of Myth
Pages: 208, Hardcover, Canongate Books Ltd
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£7.92
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Phoenix Press Buddha (Lives S.)
Writing a biography of the Buddha is not the same as writing one of most other people--even other founders of religions--as Karen Armstrong explains at the start of this excellent book, part of a series of lives of significant figures. Armstrong is a former nun who is now probably Britain's best-known popular writer on religion, the author of <I>A History of God</I> and <I>The Battle for God</I> amongst others. <p> Almost nothing is known about the Buddha's life as Siddhatta Gotama. The main source is the Pali Canon, a collection of texts made about a century after his death, though not written down until much later. This is a huge body of work which contains the Buddha's sermons and verses, rules for Buddhist monks, and philosophical analyses--but, apart from in passing, almost nothing about his life. In some of his discourses the Buddha illustrates a point with a personal anecdote; his biography has to be pieced together from these snippets. And Armstrong accepts that many of these may be mythological in nature, rather than historical in the factual sense we might wish for today. But does this matter? The early Buddhists looked for significance, rather than historically accurate detail, in their scriptures.<p> Armstrong takes these snippets and puts them in order to tell Siddhatta Gotama's life story--but she does much more than that. The Buddha didn't spring out of nowhere. One of the most valuable things the author does in this book is to set him in his historical context of the changing religious ideas of the time. And in doing that she also gives an excellent explanation of what Buddhism is all about, in terms that a non-Buddhist can understand. Highly recommended. --<I>David V Barrett</I>
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£5.59
at Amazon.co.uk
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Zondervan In the Beginning: New Interpretation of Genesis
Pages: 208, Paperback, Zondervan
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Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
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£9.89
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HarperCollins Spiral Staircase
I have decided to try again, Karen Armstrong writes at the beginning of <I>The Spiral Staircase</I>, in explaining why she is telling her life story for a second time, 20 years after doing so in <I>Beginning the World</I>. We should probably all pause to confront our past from time to time, because it changes its meaning as our circumstances alter. That's a clue to the sort of open-minded and intensive inquiry that Armstrong is capable of, which has made her, in those 20 years, a bestselling theologian and historian of religion, known for such hugely popular books as <I>The Battle for God</I>, <I>A History of God</I>, and <I>Islam: A Short History</I>.<p> In the lucid yet reflective manner that is Armstrong's trademark, <I>The Spiral Staircase</I> recalls her painful early life as a nun, her even more painful reentry into secular society, and most compellingly, the long-undiagnosed epilepsy that made her life a horror show of phantom visions and misplaced hours. We follow Armstrong to the Middle East and elsewhere as she searches for answers to questions no less daunting than the significance of faith. Yet what drives Armstrong is her distaste for and distrust of those who see only black or white, never shades of grey. I disliked the crusading certainty of Ayatollah Khomeini, yet I was also disturbed by the shrill rhetoric of some of Rushdie's champions, she writes in the wake of debate over Salman Rushdie's <I>Satanic Verses</I> and the ensuing fatwa issued by the extremists on the Islamic right. Indeed, as religious dogma divides the world in ever new ways, Armstrong's learned views are especially resonant. But <I>The Spiral Staircase</I>, its name inspired by TS Eliot's poem cycle <I>Ash-Wednesday</I&g t;, is not a polemic, despite Armstrong's forceful and persuasive arguments for religious tolerance. Rather, it's a beautiful letter sent by a gifted writer attempting to decode the meaning of her life. <I>--Kim Hughes, Amazon.com</I>
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 4 to 6 weeks
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£13.20
at Amazon.co.uk
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HarperPerennial The Spiral Staircase
Karen Armstrong speaks to the troubling years following her decision to leave the life of a Roman Catholic nun and join the secular world in 1969. What makes <I>The Spiral Staircase: My Climb out of Darkness</I> especially fascinating is that Armstrong already wrote about this era once--only it was a disastrous book. It was too soon for her to understand how these dark, struggling years influenced her spiritual development, and she was too immature to protect herself from being be bullied by the publishing world. As a result, she agreed to portray herself only in as positive and lively a light as possible--a mandate that gave her permission to deny the truth of her pain and falsify her inner experience. The inspiration for this new approach comes from TS Eliot's <I>Ash Wednesday</I>, a series of six poems that speak to the process of spiritual recovery. Eliot metaphorically climbs a spiral staircase in these poems---turning again and again to what he does not want to see as he slowly makes progress toward the light. In revisiting her spiral climb out of her dark night of the soul, Armstrong gives readers a stunningly poignant account about the nature of spiritual growth. Upon leaving the convent, Armstrong grapples with the grief of her abandoned path and the uncertainty of her place in the world. On top of this angst, Armstrong spent years suffering from undiagnosed temporal lobe epilepsy, causing her to have frequent blackout lapses in memory and disturbing hallucinations---crippling symptoms that her psychiatrist adamantly attributed to Armstrong's denial of her femininity and sexuality. The details of this narrative may be specific to Armstrong's life, but the meaning she makes of her spiral ascent makes this a universally relevant story. All readers can glean inspiration from her insights into the nature of surrender and the possibilities of finding solace in the absence of hope. Armstrong shows us why spiritual wisdom is often a seasoned gift--no matter how much we strive for understanding, we can't force profound insights to occur simply because our publisher is waiting for them. With her elegant, humble and brave voice, she inspires readers to willingly turn our attention toward our false identities and vigilantly defended beliefs in order to better see the truth and vulnerability of our existence. Herein lies the staircase we can climb to enlightenment. --<I>Gail Hudson, Amazon.com</I>
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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£7.19
at Amazon.co.uk
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Flamingo Through the Narrow Gate: A Memoir of Convent Life
Pages: 298, Paperback, Flamingo
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£6.39
at Amazon.co.uk
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Weidenfeld & Nicholson history Islam: A Short History (Universal History S.)
The picture of Islam as a violent, backward, and insular tradition should be laid to rest, says Karen Armstrong, bestselling author of <I>Muhammad</I> and <I>A History of God</I>. Delving deep into Islamic history, Armstrong sketches the arc of a story that begins with the stirring of revelation in an Arab businessman named Muhammad. His concern with the poor who were being left behind in the blush of his society's new prosperity sets the tone for the tale of a culture that values community as a manifestation of God. Muhammad's ideas catch fire, quickly blossoming into a political empire. As the empire expands and the once fractured Arabs subdue and overtake the vast Persian domain, the story of a community becomes a panoramic drama. With great dexterity, Armstrong narrates the Sunni-Shi'ite schism, the rise of Persian influence, the clashes with Western crusaders and Mongolian conquerors, and the spiritual explorations that traced the route to God. Armstrong brings us through the debacle of European colonialism right up to the present day, putting Islamic fundamentalism into context as part of a worldwide phenomenon. <I>Islam: A Short History</I>, like Bruce Lawrence's <I>Shattering the Myth</I> and Mark Huband's <I>Warriors of the Prophet</I>, introduces us to a faith that beckons like a minaret to those who dare to venture beyond the headlines. --<I>Brian Bruya</I>
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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£6.39
at Amazon.co.uk
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HarperCollins The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam
About 40 years ago popular opinion assumed that religion would become a weaker force and people would certainly become less zealous as the world became more modern and morals more relaxed. But the opposite has proven true, according to theologian and author Karen Armstrong (<I>A History of God</I>), who documents how fundamentalism has taken root and grown in many of the world's major religions, such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Even Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism and Confucianism have developed fundamentalist factions. Reacting to a technologically driven world with liberal Western values, fundamentalists have not only increased in numbers, they have become more desperate, claims Armstrong, who points to the Oklahoma City bombing, violent anti-abortion crusades, and the assassination of President Yitzak Rabin as evidence of dangerous extremes.<p>Yet she also acknowledges the irony of how fundamentalism and Western materialism seem to urge each other on to greater excesses. To prevent an escalation of the conflict, we must try and understand the pain and perception of the other side, she pleads. With her gift for clear, engaging writing and her integrity as a thorough researcher, Armstrong delivers a powerful discussion of a globally heated issue. Part history lesson, part wake-up call, and mostly a plea for healing, Armstrong's writing continues to offer a religious mirror and a cultural vision. --<I>Gail Hudson</I>
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 4 to 7 days
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£7.19
at Amazon.co.uk
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HarperCollins History of Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths
Pages: 400, Paperback, HarperCollins
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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£13.19
at Amazon.co.uk
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Bantam Books Visions of God: Four Medieval Mystics and Their Writings
Pages: 256, Paperback, Bantam Books
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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£9.96
at Amazon.co.uk
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Brilliance Audio A Short History of Myth
MP3 CD, Brilliance Audio
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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£13.83
at Amazon.co.uk
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Brilliance Audio A Short History of Myth: Unabridged (Myth S.)
Audio CD, Brilliance Audio
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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£11.06
at Amazon.co.uk
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Walker Large Print The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness
I have decided to try again, Karen Armstrong writes at the beginning of <I>The Spiral Staircase</I>, in explaining why she is telling her life story for a second time, 20 years after doing so in <I>Beginning the World</I>. We should probably all pause to confront our past from time to time, because it changes its meaning as our circumstances alter. That's a clue to the sort of open-minded and intensive inquiry that Armstrong is capable of, which has made her, in those 20 years, a bestselling theologian and historian of religion, known for such hugely popular books as <I>The Battle for God</I>, <I>A History of God</I>, and <I>Islam: A Short History</I>.<p> In the lucid yet reflective manner that is Armstrong's trademark, <I>The Spiral Staircase</I> recalls her painful early life as a nun, her even more painful reentry into secular society, and most compellingly, the long-undiagnosed epilepsy that made her life a horror show of phantom visions and misplaced hours. We follow Armstrong to the Middle East and elsewhere as she searches for answers to questions no less daunting than the significance of faith. Yet what drives Armstrong is her distaste for and distrust of those who see only black or white, never shades of grey. I disliked the crusading certainty of Ayatollah Khomeini, yet I was also disturbed by the shrill rhetoric of some of Rushdie's champions, she writes in the wake of debate over Salman Rushdie's <I>Satanic Verses</I> and the ensuing fatwa issued by the extremists on the Islamic right. Indeed, as religious dogma divides the world in ever new ways, Armstrong's learned views are especially resonant. But <I>The Spiral Staircase</I>, its name inspired by TS Eliot's poem cycle <I>Ash-Wednesday</I&g t;, is not a polemic, despite Armstrong's forceful and persuasive arguments for religious tolerance. Rather, it's a beautiful letter sent by a gifted writer attempting to decode the meaning of her life. <I>--Kim Hughes, Amazon.com</I>
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Shipping: refer to store website
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£8.00
at Amazon.co.uk
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Canongate Books Ltd A Short History of Myth
Pages: 168, Paperback, Canongate Books Ltd
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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£3.99
at Amazon.co.uk
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Weidenfeld & Nicholson history Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet
Pages: 288, Paperback, Weidenfeld & Nicholson history
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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£6.39
at Amazon.co.uk
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Atlantic Books The Great Transformation: The World in the Time of Buddha, Socrates, Confucius and Jeremiah
Pages: 464, Hardcover, Atlantic Books
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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£11.98
at Amazon.co.uk
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