Book of the People

“An erudite, elegant, and quietly impassioned plea” exploring historical and literary aspects of the Bible is “an easy, pleasurable read” (The Guardian).

In The Book of the People, acclaimed author A. N. Wilson explores how readers and thinkers have approached the Bible, and how it might be read today. Charting his own relationship with the Bible over a lifetime of writing, Wilson argues that it remains relevant even in a largely secular society, as a philosophical work, a work of literature, and a cultural touchstone that the western world has answered to for nearly two thousand years: Martin Luther King was “reading the Bible” when he started the Civil Rights movement, and when Michelangelo painted the fresco cycles in the Sistine Chapel, he was “reading the Bible.” Wilson challenges the way fundamentalists—whether believers or non-believers—have misused the Bible, either by neglecting and failing to recognize its cultural significance, or by using it as a weapon against those with whom they disagree.

Erudite, witty and accessible, The Book of the People seeks to reclaim the Good Book as our seminal work of literature, and a book for the imagination.

“A work of genius.” —The Times (London)

“Wide-ranging and richly stimulating.” —Sunday Times (London)

“Wilson’s delightful and unexpectedly moving book is characterized by intellectual humility.” —New Statesman