Religion for Atheists A non-believer's guide to the uses of religion

Alain de Botton's Religion for Atheists looks at the God debate with fresh eyes All of us, whether religious, agnostic or atheist, are searching for meaning. And in this wise and life-affirming book, non-believer Alain de Botton both rejects the supernatural claims of the major religions and points out just how many good ideas they sometimes have about how we should live. And he suggests that non-believers can learn and steal from them. Picking and choosing from the thousands of years of advice assembled by the world's great religions, Alain de Botton presents a range of fascinating ideas and practical insights on art, community, love, friendship, work, life and death. He shows how they can be of use to us all, irrespective of whether we do or don't believe. In the Sunday Times top-ten bestseller Religion for Atheists, Alain de Botton takes us one step further than Dawkins and Hitchens have ventured and into a world of ideas beyond the God debate... 'A serious and optimistic set of practical ideas that could improve and alter the way we live' Jeanette Winterson, The Times 'A beautiful, inspiring book . . . offering a glimpse of a more enlightened path' Sunday Telegraph 'Packed with tantalizing goads to thought and playful prompts to action' Independent 'Smart, stimulating, sensitive. A timely and perceptive appreciation of how much wisdom is embodied in religious traditions and how we godless moderns might learn from it' Financial Times 'There isn't a page in this book that doesn't contain a striking idea or a stimulating parallel' Mail on Sunday 'Packed with tantalizing goads to thought and playful prompts to action' Independent