The Tenth Parallel

The tenth parallel, the line of latitude 700 miles north of the equator, is the defining metaphor of our time. An ideological front line stretching across two continents and nineteen countries, this is where Christianity and Islam collide - a profound encounter that shapes the lives of more than a billion people. It's not just geographic; it's demographic. The centre of global faith lies in the jungles and buzzing megacities of Africa and Asia. Of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, more than half live along the tenth parallel, as do roughly 60 per cent of the world's 2 billion Christians. Here, as elsewhere, Christianity and Islam are growing faster than the world's population. The stories of "The Tenth Parallel" examine the complex relationships of religion, land, and oil, among other resources; local conflicts and global ideology; politics and contemporary martyrdom, both Islamic and Christian. This visionary work of literary nonfiction will set the agenda for the way we think about religion and our shared future, and how we divide our dwindling resources.
An award-winning investigative journalist and poet, Eliza Griswold has spent the past five years in the villages and slums along the tenth parallel - on both sides of the faith-based fault line. Her observations, tempered with respect and deep curiosity about the role of God in the lives of her subjects, renders "The Tenth Parallel", a timely and essential examination of the relationship between faith and violence in the contemporary world.