‘A timely, often bracing and always highly stimulating book.’  Tom Holland,  author of  Dominion  and co-host of  The Rest is History

In today’s science-driven, rational world, belief is dismissed as an artefact of a bygone era – something absurd at best, harmful at worst. The prevailing narratives paint belief as primitive, weird, even dangerous.

But as life grows ever more confusing and our societies more atomised, contemplating something bigger than ourselves has never been more vital.

Alister McGrath offers a fresh perspective on belief, presenting it not as a weakness of rational thought but as an essential tool for navigating uncertainty. Elegant and thought-provoking, Why We Believe reveals how belief provides meaning in the face of existential despair, how it fosters community and offers solace.

As society moves beyond the dismissive rhetoric surrounding people of faith, here is a powerful manifesto for the re-enchantment of the Western mind.

‘Scholarly, compulsively readable and with gems of information on every page… a must read.’ Revd Fergus Butler-Gallie, author of  A Field Guide to the English Clergy

‘In the beginning was the Word,’ says the Gospel of John. This sentence – and the words of all four gospels – is central to the teachings of the Christian Church and has shaped Western art, literature and language, and the Western mind.

Yet in the years after the death of Christ there was not merely one word, nor any consensus as to who Jesus was or why he had mattered. There were many different Jesuses, among them the aggressive Jesus who scorned his parents and crippled those who opposed him, the Jesus who sold his twin into slavery and the Jesus who had someone crucified in his stead.

Moreover, in the early years of the first millennium there were many other saviours, many sons of gods who healed the sick and cured the lame. But as Christianity spread, they were pronounced unacceptable – even heretical – and they faded from view.

Now, in Heresy, Catherine Nixey tells their extraordinary story, one of contingency, chance and plurality. It is a story about what might have been.

‘A timely, often bracing and always highly stimulating book.’  Tom Holland,  author of  Dominion  and co-host of  The Rest is History

In today’s science-driven, rational world, belief is dismissed as an artefact of a bygone era – something absurd at best, harmful at worst. The prevailing narratives paint belief as primitive, weird, even dangerous.

But as life grows ever more confusing and our societies more atomised, contemplating something bigger than ourselves has never been more vital.

Alister McGrath offers a fresh perspective on belief, presenting it not as a weakness of rational thought but as an essential tool for navigating uncertainty. Elegant and thought-provoking, Why We Believe reveals how belief provides meaning in the face of existential despair, how it fosters community and offers solace.

As society moves beyond the dismissive rhetoric surrounding people of faith, here is a powerful manifesto for the re-enchantment of the Western mind.

‘Scholarly, compulsively readable and with gems of information on every page… a must read.’ Revd Fergus Butler-Gallie, author of  A Field Guide to the English Clergy

‘In the beginning was the Word,’ says the Gospel of John. This sentence – and the words of all four gospels – is central to the teachings of the Christian church and has shaped Western art, literature and language, and the Western mind.

Yet in the years after the death of Christ there was not merely one word, nor any consensus as to who Jesus was or why he had mattered. There were many different Jesuses, among them the aggressive Jesus who scorned his parents and crippled those who opposed him, the Jesus who sold his twin into slavery and the Jesus who had someone crucified in his stead.

Moreover, in the early years of the first millennium there were many other saviours, many sons of gods who healed the sick and cured the lame. But as Christianity spread, they were pronounced unacceptable – even heretical – and they faded from view.

Now, in Heresy, Catherine Nixey tells their extraordinary story, one of contingency, chance and plurality. It is a story about what might have been.

An explosive new dystopian romantasy YA, perfect for fans of The Hunger Games, The Atlas Six and Leigh Bardugo.

Seventeen-year-old Bear lives in the walled town of Calleston – a place of stark divide between the rich and poor. Living down in Cobbleside, Bear is painfully conscious of the inequalities between him and residents of Roofside.

When the town’s annual Field Day – an event during which those who’ve recently come of age test their Sinsen growing capacities – shows Bear to have unprecedented abilities, he’s hurtled into the upper echelons of society, and everything he’s ever wanted is within his grasp. But it soon becomes apparent, that it’s not all he expected it to be. He finds himself existing amidst an uncaring, callous people, concerned only with themselves, living in a society in which corruption is rife.

Finding himself unwillingly entangled with the Overlord’s beautiful but spiteful daughter, Bear is forced to make decisions which may jeopardise everything he’s dreamed of – or risk the lives of the people he once lived amongst.

A story of love, witchcraft, betrayal and murder!

• From member of internationally adored band The Wanted, Jay McGuiness, comes his breathtaking debut YA novel.  
• Based on where Jay grew-up, with themes of poverty, class divide and addiction.  
• A powerful plot, sweeping, heartfelt romance and an iconic new YA hero.

In this hugely powerful book, Karen Armstrong argues that it isn’t enough to change our behaviour to avert environmental catastrophe – we must rekindle our spiritual bond with the natural world. From gratitude and compassion to sacrifice and non-violence, Armstrong draws themes from the world’s religious traditions to offer practical steps to reconnect you with nature.

Speaking to anyone interested in our relationship with nature, worried about environmental destruction, or searching for new actions to save our planet, Sacred Nature will uncover the most profound connections between humans and the natural world.

‘A lamentation in the key of Greta Thunberg, with undertones of Carl Jung’ Wall Street Journal

‘Karen Armstrong is one of the handful of wise and supremely commentators on religion’ Alain de Botton

A fascinating, surprising and often controversial examination of the real God of the Bible, in all his bodily, uncensored, scandalous forms.

‘One of the most remarkable historians and communicators working today’ – Dan Snow

Three thousand years ago, in the lands we now call Israel and Palestine, a group of people worshipped a complex pantheon of deities, led by a father god called El. El had seventy children, who were gods in their own right. One of them was a minor storm deity, known as Yahweh. Yahweh had a body, a wife, offspring and colleagues. He fought monsters and mortals. He gorged on food and wine, wrote books, and took walks and naps. But he would become something far larger and far more abstract: the God of the great monotheistic religions.

But as Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou reveals, God’s cultural DNA stretches back centuries before the Bible was written, and persists in the tics and twitches of our own society, whether we are believers or not. The Bible has shaped ideas about God and religion, but also cultural preferences about human existence and experience; our concept of life and death; attitude to sex and gender; habits of eating and drinking; the understanding of history.

Examining God’s body, from his head to his hands, feet and genitals, she shows how the Western idea of God developed. She explores the places and artefacts that shaped our view of this singular God and the ancient religions and societies of the biblical world. And in doing so she analyses not only the origins of our oldest monotheistic religions, but also the origins of Western culture.

Beautifully written, passionately argued and frequently controversial, God: An Anatomy is cultural history on a grand scale.

‘Rivetingly fresh and stunning’ – Sunday Times

‘KAREN ARMSTRONG IS A GENIUS’ – A.N. Wilson, author of The Victorians and Winnie and Wolf

In this hugely powerful book, Karen Armstrong argues that if we want to avert environmental catastrophe, it is not enough to change our behaviour: we need to learn to think and feel differently about the natural world – to rekindle our spiritual bond with nature.

For most of human history, and in almost all the world’s cultures, nature was believed to be sacred, and our God or gods to be present everywhere in the natural world. When people in the West began to separate God and nature in modern times, it was not just a profound breach with thousands of years of accumulated wisdom: it also set in train the destruction of the natural world.

Taking themes that have been central to the world’s religious traditions – from gratitude and compassion to sacrifice and non-violence – Armstrong offers practical steps to help us develop a new mindset to reconnect with nature and rekindle our sense of the sacred.

Sacred Nature reveals the most profound connections between humans and the natural world. It speaks to anyone interested in our relationship with nature, worried about the destruction of our environment, and searching for new ways of thinking to shape the action needed to save our planet.

‘One of our best living writers on religion’ Financial Times

‘Karen Armstrong is one of the handful of wise and supremely intelligent commentators on religion’ Alain de Botton

‘Rivetingly fresh and stunning’ – Sunday Times
‘One of the most remarkable historians and communicators working today’ – Dan Snow

Three thousand years ago, in the Southwest Asian lands we now call Israel and Palestine, a group of people worshipped a complex pantheon of deities, led by a father god called El. El had seventy children, who were gods in their own right. One of them was a minor storm deity, known as Yahweh. Yahweh had a body, a wife, offspring and colleagues. He fought monsters and mortals. He gorged on food and wine, wrote books, and took walks and naps. But he would become something far larger and far more abstract: the God of the great monotheistic religions.

But as Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou reveals, God’s cultural DNA stretches back centuries before the Bible was written, and persists in the tics and twitches of our own society, whether we are believers or not. The Bible has shaped our ideas about God and religion, but also our cultural preferences about human existence and experience; our concept of life and death; our attitude to sex and gender; our habits of eating and drinking; our understanding of history. Examining God’s body, from his head to his hands, feet and genitals, she shows how the Western idea of God developed. She explores the places and artefacts that shaped our view of this singular God and the ancient religions and societies of the biblical world. And in doing so she analyses not only the origins of our oldest monotheistic religions, but also the origins of Western culture.

Beautifully written, passionately argued and frequently controversial, God: An Anatomy is cultural history on a grand scale.