Karen Armstrong Books in Order
Karen Armstrong has written 30 books, published between 1981 and 2022. The first book is Through the Narrow Gate (1981) and the newest is The Story Of God (2022). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 30
- Published
- 1981–2022
- Confirmed
- 2 of 30 titles
- Pages on record
- 2,344 in 10 of 30 books
Karen Armstrong, born 14 November 1944, is a British author and commentator on comparative religion and a former Roman Catholic religious sister. While in the convent Armstrong read English at St Anne's College, Oxford, and left the order in 1969, moving from a conservative faith to a more liberal and mystical Christianity. The books stress what the major religions share, including compassion and the Golden Rule, and the February 2008 TED Prize of US$100,000 led to the Charter for Compassion, launched the next year. The catalogue holds 30 books from Through the Narrow Gate (1981) to The Story Of God (2022), including Holy War (1988) and A History of God (1993).
How many Karen Armstrong books are there?
Karen Armstrong has 30 books, released between 1981 and 2022.
Karen Armstrong Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 30 Karen Armstrong books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 11981–1/4
- 2Beginning the World1983 · 242 pages · confirmed 1/419832421/4
- 3The First Christian1983 · 192 pages · confirmed 1/419831921/4
- 4The Gospel According to Woman1986 · 323 pages · confirmed 1/419863231/4
- 5Holy War1988 · confirmed 1/41988–1/4
- 619912493/4
- 7The English Mystics of the Fourteenth Century1991 · 217 pages · confirmed 1/419912171/4
- 8The End of Silence1993 · 247 pages · confirmed 1/419932471/4
- 9A History of God1993 · confirmed 1/41993–1/4
- 10Visions of God1994 · 228 pages · confirmed 1/419942281/4
- 11Jerusalem1996 · confirmed 1/41996–1/4
- 12In the Beginning1996 · confirmed 1/41996–1/4
- 13Shifting Ground and Cultural Bodies1999 · 139 pages · confirmed 1/419991391/4
- 14The Battle for God2000 · confirmed 1/42000–1/4
- 1520012053/4
- 16Faith After 11 September2002 · confirmed 1/42002–1/4
- 172004–2/4
- 182004–1/4
- 19The Great Transformation2006 · confirmed 1/42006–1/4
- 202007–1/4
- 2120073021/4
- 22The Case for God2009 · confirmed 1/42009–1/4
- 23The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to The Hebrews2010 · confirmed 1/42010–1/4
- 24Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life2010 · confirmed 1/42010–1/4
- 25A Letter To Pakistan2011 · confirmed 1/42011–1/4
- 26Fields of Blood2014 · confirmed 1/42014–1/4
- 272015–1/4
- 28The Lost Art of Scripture2019 · confirmed 1/42019–1/4
- 29Sacred Nature2022 · confirmed 1/42022–1/4
- 30The Story Of God2022 · confirmed 1/42022–1/4
Karen Armstrong books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Biographies & Memoirs in order
2 booksEminent Lives in order
1 bookCanongate's The Myths in order
1 bookModern Library Chronicles in order
1 book- 2. Islam
Books That Changed the World in order
1 book- 6. The Bible
Icons in order
1 book- 7. St Paul
Penguin Lives in order
1 book- 15. Buddha
Standalone books
22 books22 Karen Armstrong titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Karen Armstrong books in order?
No. No source lists any of the 30 Karen Armstrong books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.
Where to start with Karen Armstrong
Start with Through the Narrow Gate (1981), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Karen Armstrong book?
The Story Of God (2022) is the newest Karen Armstrong book released so far.
Is there a new Karen Armstrong book coming?
No next Karen Armstrong book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Karen Armstrong at a glance
- Paused
- No new Karen Armstrong title has appeared for 4 years. The last was published in 2022.
- Release pace
- Karen Armstrong books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 2,344 pages across the 10 of 30 books with a recorded length, a median of 235 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Karen Armstrong books, 9 of 30, were published in the 2000s.
What the Karen Armstrong books are about
12 of the 30 Karen Armstrong books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: history is tagged on 4 of 12. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- History 4 of 12 books
- Biography 3 of 12 books
- Christianity 2 of 12 books
- Mysticism 2 of 12 books
- Religious aspects 2 of 12 books