Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation (2006). A comparative and historical study of the major religions by a well-known scholar.

Robert N. Bellah, Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age (2011). An impressive but controversial account of the origins of religion in general and those of second-wave civilizations in particular.

Peter Brown, The Rise of Western Christendom (2003). A history of the first 1,000 years of Christianity, cast in a global framework.

Huston Smith, An Illustrated World’s Religions (1994). A sympathetic account of major world religions, beautifully illustrated, by a prominent scholar of comparative religion.

Arthur Waley, Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China (1983). A classic work, first published more than half a century ago, about the major philosophies of old China.

Jonathan S. Walters, Finding Buddhists in Global History (1998). A brief account that situates Buddhism in a world history framework.

BBC, “Religions,” http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/. A succinct introduction to the history, beliefs, and practices of many of the world’s religious traditions.

Bridging World History, “Early Belief Systems,” http://www.learner.org/courses/worldhistory/unit_main_5.html. A thoughtful Web site that explores the origins of the religious impulse and many of the traditions covered in this chapter.