
Geert Hofstede (Professor Emeritus of of Organizational Anthropology and International Management) has compared the cultures or mentalities of many different countries and studied the consequences of these differences in understanding each other and cooperating with each other at various levels of social structures, mainly in companies and international organizations.
The book is structured around five major dimensions: power distance; uncertainty avoidance; individualism versus collectivism; masculinity versus femininity; and long term versus short-term orientation.
Although it is a work with profound academical roots (mainly sociology), it is quite accessible for a general public. It is interesting to discover the deep motives for cultural differences (for example between European countries). Speaking about the relation between religion and one of the five major dimensions (see above: uncertainty avoidance), he concludes that Roman Catholicism is linked to intolerance due to the fact that the Catholic Church considers herself as heir of Truth.