Karen Armstrong books

Anthologies

Books That Changed the World Reading Order

Canongate’s The Myths Reading Order

Eminent Lives Reading Order

Icons Reading Order

Modern Library Chronicles Reading Order

Non-Fiction

Penguin Lives Reading Order

Karen Armstrong entered a convent at seventeen and left seven years later, completing her degree at Oxford and then embarking on a career in television and journalism before finding her calling as a popular historian of religion. A History of God (1993), which traced the 4,000-year development of the concept of God across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, became an international bestseller and established her reputation.

She has since written on topics ranging from the origins of religious fundamentalism to the life of the Buddha, the nature of scripture, and the history of Jerusalem. Her 2008 TED Prize led to the creation of the Charter for Compassion, a global initiative built on the idea — central to her work — that the Golden Rule is common to all major religious traditions. Armstrong writes for general readers rather than specialists, and her books have found audiences among believers, atheists, and everyone in between.