From its origins in the ancient world as a rival to traditional paganism, Christianity has grown to become one of the most widely practiced religions in the world. Western Church in the Middle Ages explores how the Church took over spiritual control of Western Europe in the Middle Ages to become the very foundation of life—setting a moral agenda for all of society and dominating its intellectual pursuits.

"Offers just over 100 pages of tightly formatted highlights of the history, significance and practice of the [faith] and concludes with suggestions for further study . . . well-indexed . . . offer[s] more than facts . . . Kessler begins his chapter on Jewish beliefs about God by saying that 'for many Jews, myself included, the encounter with God is more than an acceptance of an intellectual proposition. I believe God cares about humanity and I believe in a personal God.'"—Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA Today

"Just over 100 pages of tightly formatted highlights of the history, significance and practice of the [faith] and concludes with suggestions for further study . . . well-indexed . . . offer[s] more than facts . . . In describing how Muslims are expected to follow the daily life practices of the Prophet by how they eat, dress, even clean their teeth, Sardar adds that among his followers, 'the Prophet's generosity and forgiveness, compassion and civility, his strong sense of justice and equality, his passion for thought and learning are often conspicuous by their absence.'"—Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA Today

"Shermer lays out the case for evolution cogently, if not in great detail, in Why Darwin Matters. He then does what many scientists are unwilling to do: He engages and answers the arguments of people who don't accept evolution. He does this with care and respect but without any false even-handedness . . . With zest but without gloating, Shermer takes on the arguments against evolution and mows them down."—David Brown, The Washington Post Book World

“A superb contribution to the secondary literature on yoga. Critically grounded in the scholarship on yoga and the rich textual history of the tradition, Bryant nevertheless succeeds in transcending both the excessively technical approaches to yoga scholarship as well as much of the popular nonsense about yoga in the proliferating ‘schools’ in the New Age marketplace. Bryant impressively communicates the essentials of yoga philosophy and practice to the thoughtful but non-specialist general reader. His translations from the Sanskrit are precise and well-grounded, and his interpretations are provocative and persuasive. His book will surely be welcomed by both serious scholars and responsible practitioners.”—Gerald James Larson, Rabindranath Tagore Professor Emeritus of Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana University, Bloomington, and Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara