
Karen Armstrong, a former Roman Catholic nun, has written more than 20 books on religious affairs—including A History of God, The Battle for God, Holy War, Islam, Buddha, The Great Transformation, and The Case for God—and two memoirs, Through the Narrow Gate and The Spiral Staircase. In these works, she explores faith in the context of the major world religions, focusing on how faith shapes world history and drives current events. In February 2008 she was awarded the TED Prize, ($100,000) given by a small nonprofit devoted to “ideas worth spreading.” She has been working on a “Charter for Compassion,” created online by the general public and crafted by leading religious thinkers in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The charter was signed in November 2009 by a thousand religious and secular leaders. She lives in London.