The Everything World's Religions Book: Discover the Beliefs, Traditions, and Cultures of Ancient and Modern Religions

Understanding diversity is the key peace. This book will NOT bring world peace but it just might bring a little understanding to many that we are not as different as we think we are. You will not read this book and instantly become a religious philosopher but you just might have some new insight on the belief of others. This is a wonderful tool for teenagers as they grow up around other children from every nation.

This is a good guide to the world religions. All the topics seem to be covered, and it's a good introduction. It concentrates on all the major religions, and also delves into the smaller know religions and different sects of the major religion. I can honestly say I know more after reading this bookOne thing I found annoying was the lack of consistency with the reporting of each religion. It would have been helpful if Pollack told the same information for each religion. He should start of with history, then the amount of worshipers, then where are they located, then what type of gods do they believe in, and so on. He tends to leave out a lot of information, whether due to his lack of information, or do to oversight. There are numerous examples, such as he explains that Buddhism overlaps with Hinduism. But how, where, and why? He doesn't explain, or his explanation was unclear. He writes a chapter about Jainism, but I never figured out if the Jains had a God or not. He doesn't give an approximation to the number of religious devotees to many religions, so I don't how major the religion is or not.Despite these flaws, it's still a very good book for the curious.