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The Tenth Parallel. Dispatches from the Fault Line between Christianity and Islam

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The Tenth Parallel. Dispatches from the Fault Line between Christianity and Islam by Eliza Griswold Penguin HK$325

Journalist Eliza Griswold traversed some of the world's most troubled and often violent regions to uncover the human face of the bitter and seemingly infinite struggle between Islam and Christianity - or, more specifically, the conflicts between Islam and the West.

Griswold, a writer who focuses on conflict, human rights and religion, and was a 2007 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, focused on countries framing the 10th parallel, a horizontal band that rings the earth 1,000 kilometres north of the equator.

She explains its relationship to African nations as thus: 'If Africa is shaped like a rumpled sock, with South Africa at the toe and Somalia at the heel, then the tenth parallel runs across the ankle'.

This is where two worlds' collide: the mostly Muslim, Arab-influenced north meeting a Black African south inhabited by Christians and those following indigenous religions.

The 10th parallel continues east to Asia, slicing the top of Malaysia and Indonesia and the pedestal of the Philippines. Again, the two major religions, varying branches within them and ancient spirit-based beliefs are also locked in a battle of divergent beliefs.

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