The End of Faith by Sam Harris; Unabridged MP3 Audio Book; Narrator Brian Emerson

An impassioned plea for reason in a world divided by faith. This important and timely work delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today's world. Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes. He asserts that in the shadow of weapons of mass destruction, the world can no longer tolerate views that pit one true god against another. Most controversially, he argues that we cannot afford moderate lip service to religion—an accommodation that only blinds us to the real perils of fundamentalism. While warning against the encroachment of organized religion into world politics, Harris also draws on new evidence from neuroscience and insights from philosophy to explore spirituality as a biological, brain-based need. He calls on us to invoke that need in taking a secular humanistic approach to solving the problems of this world.

'The End of Faith is a genuinely frightening book about terrorism, and the central role played by religion in justifying and rewarding it. Others blame "extremists" who "distort" the "true" message of religion. Harris goes to the root of the problem: religion itself. Even moderate religion is a menace, because it leads us to respect and "cherish the idea that certain fantastic propositions can be believed without evidence". Why do men like Bin Laden commit their hideous cruelties? The answer is that they "actually believe what they say they believe". Read Sam Harris and wake up'

Richard Dawkins, GUARDIAN

'A bold and exhilarating thesis... His quotations are startling... a brave, pugilistic attempt to demolish the walls that currently insulate religious people from criticism... urgent reading'

INDEPENDENT

'Impassioned . . . Harris whose background is in philosophy and neuro-science, giv[es] him an unusually comprehensive overview of the human mind . . . A radical attack on the most sacred of liberal precepts - the notion of tolerance . . . [The End of Faith] is an eminently sensible rallying cry for a more ruthless secularisation of society'

Stephanie Merritt, OBSERVER

'This book will strike a chord with anyone who has ever pondered the irrationality of religious faith and its cruel and murderous consequences - from the Spanish Inquisition to the suicide bombs of devout young Islamists . . . It is a clever thesis by a clever man . . . Even Mr Harris's critics will have to concede the force of an analysis which roams so far and wide, from the persecution of the Cathars to the composition of George Bush's Cabinet'

THE ECONOMIST

'The End of Faith articulates the dangers and absurdities of organized religion so fiercely and so fearlessly that I felt relieved as I read it, vindicated, almost personally understood. Sam Harris presents major religious systems like Judaism, Christianity and Islam as forms of socially sanctioned lunacy, their fundamental tenets and rituals irrational, archaic and, important when it comes to matters of humanity's long-term survival, mutually incompatible . . . This is an important book, on a topic that, for all its inherent difficulty and divisiveness, should not be shielded from the crucible of human reason'

Natalie Angier, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Sam Harris is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation. The End of Faith won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction. Mr. Harris' writing has been published in over fifteen languages. He and his work have been discussed in Newsweek, TIME, The New York Times, Scientific American, Nature, Rolling Stone, and many other journals. His writing has appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Times (London), The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, The Annals of Neurology, and elsewhere. Mr. Harris is a Co-Founder and CEO of Project Reason, a nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society. He received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA.