Karen Armstrong, Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence

Abstract

The recent work by Karen Armstrong entitled Fields of Blood is more than a new contribution to the ongoing debate about religious extremism, radicalism, fanaticism and the so-called religious terrorism that is so much present in our world. It also provides an in-depth scholarly attempt to explain the historical roots of violence in human history. Penned by the author whose numerous other works on religious subjects like A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam; The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam; The Case for God: What Religions Really Means to name but a few, have earned her the status of a very distinguished and respected scholar in the field of religious studies, Fields of Blood is a synthesis of her scholarship on religious and non-religious violence from ancient times to the present day. The book places the question of religious violence in a larger context that takes into account as well its socio-economic, political and cultural roots.