Newer, more english version

The Newer, More English Version is about the most refreshing thing to happen to the Science vs. Religion debate since The Life Of Brian, and whilst it probably won't change anyone's mind about the merits of either side, it does make the whole encounter a lot more fun than most of the other stuff that has been written on the subject in recent memory.

The book is not so much a serious attempt to explain how everything could have happened without God - which would be obviously redundant - a comic take on what the first five books of the Bible look like from an atheist's perspective. Some of the jokes are really very good, although it's probably worth saying that if you're going to get them all it helps to have a working knowledge of the Old Testament (or at least a copy handy).

There is more to this book than just the humour, though. Once you've taken the whole God thing out of the story, the character and motivation of leading figures of the Old Testament become fun things to speculate about, and it's this focus on character that stoops the Newer, More English Version from being just another loo book, and makes you want to read the whole thing.