Making War In The Name Of God

By Christopher Catherwood

Book Overview

As religious zeal and sectarian strife set the opening years of the new millennium ablaze, they ushered in the latest chapter of a story that began centuries ago. From Bali to Beirut, we have inherited an idea that is as old as religion itself: killing in the name of God. In this engrossing book, renowned historian Christopher Catherwood vividly recounts a saga of passion, prejudice, and imperialism that laid the foundation for our own troubled age. Beginning in the year 632, Muhammad--as much political leader and general as prophet--commenced the breathtaking spread of Islam that, under his successors, eventually conquered an empire larger than Rome's at its height. Even as this vast realm broke apart into Sunni and Shiite factions, the Christian retaliation--ruthlessly and unscrupulously unleashed in 1095 with the First Crusade--sparked a clash between East and West that continues to this day. The pattern would repeat itself again and again with the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans, in which the same Islamic faith that had once been an institution for tolerance in places like Spain became an instrument of expansion;the wars of the Reformation, when Catholic and Protestant slaughtered each other in the name of the Prince of Peace;and the endless conflicts of the modern Middle East, savagely fought over by three faiths that all worship the same God. As the author re-examines these devastating struggles, he answers questions that are timeless, vital, and unsettling. Based on exhaustive research and written with an unflinching, unbiased eye toward revealing the often painful truth, Making War in the Name of God unveils humanity's ancient habit of sanctifying bloodshed--and exposes a past that we forget at our peril. Christopher Catherwood teaches history at Cambridge University in England and at the University of Richmond (Virginia). A fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he is the author of several acclaimed books, including Churchill's Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq. Thirteen Centuries of Holy War Christian versus Muslim. Sunni verses Shiite. Catholic versus Protestant. Why does humanity make war in the name of God? From the first Jihads of the seventh century and the Crusades of the Middle Ages, to the wars of the Reformation and the sectarian terrorism of today, acclaimed scholar Christopher Catherwood traces the fascinating history of holy war, revealing complexities and subtleties that are vital to understanding a subject that continues to divide us. The result is a fascinating look at the past that has forged our violent present--and a sobering look at the strange and terrifying connection between war and religion.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806527862
• ISBN13: 9780806527864
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
• Length: 226 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Thought Provoking

Historian Christopher Catherwood sets out to explore the roots of religious war (particullarly between Christianianity and Islam) in a manner that is both concise but very informative. I couldn't hardly put the book down and desired to keep reading; it was just that interesting. Catherwood focuses on several primary topics. The rise of Islam is dicussed as well as intra-Islamic conflict. I feel Catherwood correctly cites Islam as iniating religious war against the West. However, Catherwood doesn't let his own religion off the hook in his analysis of the Crusades in the Middle East, the Baltic, and in the Languedoc. The author shows how the battles of Talas and Mazikert effected the decline of Byzantium and the rise of the Seljuk and later Ottoman Turks even though the first battle was an Islamic triumph over a T'ang Chinese army. The French Wars of Religion and the Thirty Years' War are discussed in relation to Europe's history of religious conflict. The rise and fall of the Ottomans is examined and the Balkan Conflicts of the 1300s-1990s are appropriately used as a virtual microcosm of religious warfare in general. There is a conclusion dealing with the modern world and there is also mentioning of religious violence in other religious such as the persecution of Muslims and Christians by radical Hindus in India in recent years. Overall this book graphically but very readably portrays what can happen when religious wars break out and the long term repercussions of such conflicts. The author being a Christian himself doesn't fall into the trap of some rabid anti-religious zealots on the issue and is quick to point out not only the inconsistencies between religious cruelty and Christ's teachings but also mentions the appaling death tolls of secular totalitarianism in the last century. While I highly recommend the book and find it both fascinating and disturbing, I felt it should have included more. The cover features a star of David but Jewish religious warfare is hardly discussed. Some instances such as massacres of Jews in Europe are mentioned but I felt the author could also have discussed the darker sides of Judaism ranging from Bar Kohba in the second century to the massacre of Jerusalem's Christians in the Seventh century (while a Sassainian Persian general looked on) to modern Zionist terrorists. Likewise, while Islam has seen religious war practically since its beginnings, the reality had existed long before. The Zurvanist Zoroastrians of Sassainian Persia not only were major enemies of Roma but also had persecuted Christians themselves at times. Once Roma/Byzantium and Armenia became Christian, a religious element was added to the long standing conflicts which meant even more bloody warfare. This not only led to increased Christian persecution but also retaliatory attacks on Zoroastrians by the Byzantines. I also felt uncertain about the author's premise of Westphalia ending religious war in Europe proper. In