Ruthven's introduction to fundamentalism is excellent. It is easy to read, but there is substance too as Ruthven puts fundamentalism in historical and sociological context. He achieves this by carefully surveying and comparing Christian, Islamic and other forms of fundamentalism. Along the way, he presents a useful raft of identifying characteristics. In so doing, he avoids the one-size-fits-all approach, which serves no one. In particular, he identifies and explains a number of important issues ranging from the impact of religious pluralism to the nature of truth statements. I thought his comparison on the place of religion in European and American society was very good. This is useful book for teachers, clergy, academics and interested readers.