Karen Armstrong

Age: 69

Education: Oxford University

Career: Entered convent at 18 and later left the order. English teacher. Writer, commentator since 1982.

• "The First Christian: St. Paul's Impact on Christianity" (1983)

• "The Gospel According to Woman: Christianity's Creation of the Sex War in the West" (1986)

•"Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today's World" (1988)

• "A History of God" (1993)

• "The Battle for God" (2000)

• "Buddha" (2001)

• "Faith After 11 September" (2002)

• "The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions" (2006)

• "The Bible: The Biography" (2007)