Nelson’s Illustrated Guide to Religions: A Comprehensive Introduction to the Religions of the World by James A. Beverley

This book was educational.  It covered a wide range of religions. Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, and more.  Many groups I’ve never heard of are included.  In my opinion, it was a little too soft towards false religions but it did compare them with essential Christian doctrine and attempted to have a Christian perspective.  Still, this book should probably only be read by believers who already know where they stand.  Children should definitely not read this book as it is very blunt toward the sick practices of the world and of certain cult leaders. This book is very long (over seven hundred pages) and holds some unnecessary information in my view.  I would be more apt to recommend this book if it was not so incredibly dry.  If I had not been obligated as a reviewer to finish the book, I probably would not have finished it.  I was very relieved and happy to finally be done with it.  That is one of the reasons why, although I appreciate the amount of research done and helpful information offered, I cannot give it that high of a rating. The pictures are interesting but are not enough to balance out the blocks and blocks of text.  With all that being said, it works well as a reference book.