Eliza Griswold Books

A riveting investigation of the jagged fault line between the Christian and Muslim worlds, the tenth parallel—seven hundred miles north of the equator—serves as a geographical and ideological front line where these two religions collide. More than half of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims and sixty percent of the 2 billion Christians reside along this line. In the vibrant megacities and dense jungles of Africa and Asia, the encounter between Christianity and Islam is shaping the future of both faiths and entire societies. Award-winning investigative journalist and poet Eliza Griswold has spent seven years traveling through Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The stories she shares reveal that religious conflicts often intertwine with issues of land, water, oil, and other natural resources, highlighting how local and tribal matters are influenced by religious beliefs. Griswold emphasizes that one’s sense of God is deeply connected to their geographical location, making faith both geographic and demographic along the tenth parallel. This urgent examination of the interplay between faith and worldly power addresses the conflicts over religion, nationhood, and natural resources that will reshape the world in the years to come.

A Pulitzer Prize winner's intimate portrait of a church, its radical mission, and its riveting crisis.