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Obviously any attempt to discuss the history of "world religions" in approximately 600 pages means that the result is going to feel compressed and hurried. This is an overview book, a glimpse of the tip of an iceberg. In many ways, reading this book is a good start to giving the reader a sense of how much MORE there is to learn and know. One can spend lifetimes studying the world's religions; one short book can't begin to convey all there is to know.

But within the very limited confines of what this book aims to do--discuss the history and globalization of the world's major religions with particular attention to the pressures of modernity and the challenges of postmodernity--this is an excellent, excellent book. For example, the history of Christianity is covered in 70 pages and includes boxed highlights on Pope John XXIII, the Nicene Creed, Orthodox Christianity, the seven sacraments and the lifecycle, holy week, women in premodern Christianity, the contrasting religious visions of MLK, Jr. and Michael Bray, and women in the modern church. Also included are maps of Palestine at the time of Jesus and Europe after the Peace of Westphalia. The chapter ends with discussion questions, key terms, and a list of suggested reading to go further in-depth. There is also a glossary and timeline specific to Christianity at the back of the book.

Similar attention is given in chapters devoted to Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, East Asian Religions (Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto), and a short final chapter on "new" and "new age" religions.

If reading this kind of overview is just going to make you angry about what is left out, then don't do it. This isn't the book for you. But if you are looking for a timely and sophisticated look at the pressures and challenges facing the world's major religions today, then this book is an excellent starting point.