This shedload of rubbish begins unpromisingly with the ludicrous 'explanation' of hurricane formation that they form in the Indian Ocean, pass through Africa, and traverse the Atlantic to bedevil the Caribbean. Oddly, she tries her hand at it again a few pages later and gets it halfway right. She then settles in to a tepid travel book-cum-sociopolitical account of religious conflict in Nigeria which was readable if not especially enthralling, and then she was back at it, telling of how cartographers of yore identified Africa as 'Negroland': in my career I worked with hundreds of maps from this period and never once did I see 'Negroland'. And when she had Sudan in the Roman Empire, the bottom fell out. This book's content lies between inconsequential and false. ( )

Basically this book is a travelogue, albeit, a travelogue with a social consciousness and a religious and educational agenda. Griswold is the product of a deeply religious upbringing and she brings this sensitivity to this work. The book sets out to explore the area of the world inside of the ten degrees north and south latitudes from the equator. This is the area of the world in which Christianity and Islam are in constant contact with the results of that contact oftentimes being violent. Griswold explores the reasons for these conflicts and comes to the conclusion that most of the conflict is historical use of religion to provide clear boundaries between the two religions. Added to this potent mix of historical resistance to proselytizing and expansion is mass migration caused by global warming in the case of Africa, and the population explosion and the resulting loss of resources in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Add to both of these the ready availability of arms and the willingness of both religions to see conversion to one or the other religion as an imperative and the result is violence and political domination of scare resources. Simply put, it is often a matter of survival to belong to one religion or the other. Faith has little to do with it.

This was a hard book to start but an easy book to finish. At first it seemed dull and academic - another one of those tomes that we all should read, but can't find the time to concentrate on it. Fortunately for the reader, the text has natural dividing lines that create shorter chunks of reading material, giving the reader time to ponder and process that material. As I read and accumulated some background knowledge I began to see how the problems faced in the various countries built on each other forming a division, oftentimes in the same country, that empathy and compassion can't seem to cross. Both of those emotions are, according to the tenants of both faiths, pillars of their Faiths. The book takes the time to reveal the part that economic development and oppertunity, or the lack thereof, plays in this constant conflict. This economic disparity is commonly caused by political maneuvering by the person, or persons in power, and in some cases, not caused by the lack of resources. It is simple corruption and the desire to remain in power. ( )

A really interesting book about the developing world where the struggle between islam and christianity is being fought. The writer talked to many interesting people and has first person accounts that few people can get. She knows so much about the locations and there are so many interesting facts. I do see a bias come out at times, but that is a small price to pay for the interesting stories that are in the book. ( )

Griswold travels the 10th parallel, spending time in Northern Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc., exploring the frontier between the Muslim world and the (southern) Christian world.

This book is a reminder that much of the Muslim world isn't the way we see it described in the Middle East, and much of the Christian world is very much different from our Western context. Nearly a quarter of the world’s Christians now live south of the 10th parallel, next door to Muslims, many of whom are migrating from the north to escape the impact of global climate change and other concerns. Along this frontier, there are clashes which get simplified in the West as religious violence, but which are far more complicated than that.

I was reminded that the narratives we receive are often simplified so much as to make them false--this became clear when, while reading this book, I read in the media and in dispatches from aid organizations very different accounts of the clashes between Fulani herders and Christian farmers in northern Nigeria. I serve on the board of an international relief and development organization called World Renew, and the varying accounts has been a topic of discussion even at the board level, since some of our donors often hear different stories from other aid organizations than they do from our (Christian) staff people who are working closely with (Muslim) Fulani herders, and therefore have a somewhat different take on the violence.

This book was even more interesting to me as a person of faith, because of Griswold herself: she grew up in a very religious (Christian) family (her father was an Anglican bishop), but grew up wondering how "smart people could believe in God." Griswold not only interacts with everyday Christians and Muslims in the countries she visits, but also with missionaries on both sides (including Gracia Burnham, who was held captive by abu-Sayyaf in the Philippines for years), and with those in power, including Franklin Graham and Omar el-Bashir (the president of Sudan). While one sees her own biases at play, she readily admits them and works to get beyond them, thus adding to the depth of her writing. Whether you are a person of faith or not, whether or not you are deeply involved in development and justice issues in some of the countries discussed, this book is a worthwhile read. ( )

Griswold travels the 10th parallel, spending time in Northern Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc., exploring the frontier between the Muslim world and the (southern) Christian world.

This book is a reminder that much of the Muslim world isn't the way we see it described in the Middle East, and much of the Christian world is very much different from our Western context. Nearly a quarter of the world’s Christians now live south of the 10th parallel, next door to Muslims, many of whom are migrating from the north to escape the impact of global climate change and other concerns. Along this frontier, there are clashes which get simplified in the West as religious violence, but which are far more complicated than that.

I was reminded that the narratives we receive are often simplified so much as to make them false--this became clear when, while reading this book, I read in the media and in dispatches from aid organizations very different accounts of the clashes between Fulani herders and Christian farmers in northern Nigeria. I serve on the board of an international relief and development organization called World Renew, and the varying accounts has been a topic of discussion even at the board level, since some of our donors often hear different stories from other aid organizations than they do from our (Christian) staff people who are working closely with (Muslim) Fulani herders, and therefore have a somewhat different take on the violence.

This book was even more interesting to me as a person of faith, because of Griswold herself: she grew up in a very religious (Christian) family (her father was an Anglican bishop), but grew up wondering how "smart people could believe in God." Griswold not only interacts with everyday Christians and Muslims in the countries she visits, but also with missionaries on both sides (including Gracia Burnham, who was held captive by abu-Sayyaf in the Philippines for years), and with those in power, including Franklin Graham and Omar el-Bashir (the president of Sudan). While one sees her own biases at play, she readily admits them and works to get beyond them, thus adding to the depth of her writing. Whether you are a person of faith or not, whether or not you are deeply involved in development and justice issues in some of the countries discussed, this book is a worthwhile read. ( )