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Former diplomat and leading expert on the Islamic world Gerard Russell uncovers the many distinctive, exotic and strange faiths that have survived over many centuries in the Middle East. They range from the religion that regards the Greek prophets as incarnations of God, to the one that reveres Lucifer in the form of a peacock, and another that believes its followers are reincarnated beings that have existed in various forms for centuries. These religions are what remain of the ancient civilisations of Persia, Babylon and Egypt, and Russell explains how they face even greater challenges today. 

Russell is a former UN and British diplomat whose work took him to Cairo, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Jeddah and Kabul, and who has been described as the ‘foremost expert on the Islamic world in his generation’. He now works in a strategic communications consultancy in London.