A Little History of Religion
RICHARD HOLLOWAY

This lovable book is clearly modelled on a best-seller from the same publisher, Gombrich’s posthumous A Little History of the World. It is even given a jacket which is all but identical. It takes you from the assertion that religion is something which “comes from the mind of the human animal”, and romps through the whole story, from the ­revelation on Sinai to the composition of the Vedas and the chronology of Hinduism and Buddhism, with short summaries of their ­better-known texts. Although three chapters are devoted to Islam, and suitable meae culpae are exclaimed at the memory of the Crusades, there is very little about the threats posed to current world peace both by Islamism and by Zionism.

There is no attempt to answer the obvious question: is there a connection between the original message of the Prophet Muhammad and the current waves of violence in the world? It is understandable that Yale University Press does not want its employees murdered, but this remains an interesting question.