Fields of Blood
  • Published: 25 September 2014
  • ISBN: 9781446467718
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 528

Fields of Blood

Religion and the History of Violence

Formats & editions
EBook
25 Sep 2014
Paperback
1 Dec 2015
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Our foremost scholar of religion challenges one of the most persistent myths of our time: that religion has been the cause of all major wars.

It is the most persistent myth of our time: religion is the cause of all violence. But history suggests otherwise. Karen Armstrong, former Roman Catholic nun and one of our foremost scholars of religion, speaks out to disprove the link between religion and bloodshed.

* Religion is as old as humanity: Fields of Blood goes back to the Stone Age hunter-gatherers and traces religion through the centuries, from medieval crusaders to modern-day jihadists.

* The West today has a warped concept of religion: we regard faith as a personal and private matter, but for most of history faith has informed people’s entire outlook on life, and often been inseparable from politics.

* Humans undoubtedly have a natural propensity for aggression: the founders of the largest religions – Jesus, Buddha, the rabbis of early Judaism, the prophet Muhammad – aimed to curb violence and build a more peaceful and just society, but with our growing greed for money and wealth came collective violence and warfare.

* With the arrival of the modern all-powerful, secular state humanity’s destructive potential has begun to spiral out of control. Is humanity on the brink of destroying itself?

Fields of Blood is a celebration of the ancient religious ideas and movements that have promoted peace and reconciliation across millennia of civilization.
  • Published: 25 September 2014
  • ISBN: 9781446467718
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 528
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About the author

Karen Armstrong

Karen Armstrong is one of the world's leading commentators on religious affairs. She spent seven years as a Roman Catholic nun, but left her teaching order in 1969 to read English at St Anne's College, Oxford. In 1982, she became a full time writer and broadcaster. She is a best-selling author of over 16 books. A passionate campaigner for religious liberty, Armstrong has addressed members of the United States Congress and participated in the World Economic Forum. In 2013 she recieved the British Academy's inaugural Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for improving transcultural understanding.

portrait photo of Karen Armstrong

Also by Karen Armstrong

Religion
The Lost Art of Scripture
Sacred Nature
A History of God
Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life
In the Beginning
The Case for God
See all

Praise for Fields of Blood

A fascinating and very accessible book... Fields of Blood is a must read for those who want to work for justice and peace.

Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies, University of Oxford

A magisterial debunking of the secularist tale

Nigel Baggar, Standpoint

Karen Armstrong's wonderful book certainly cleanses the mind. It may even do a little repair work on the heart

Ferdinand Mount, Spectator

A powerful and important work of scholarship, synthesis and argument... It is also a remarkably pleasurable read

Peter Marshall, Literary Review

A welcome counterblast... Excellent

Jonathan Wright, BBC History Magazine

Her view of religion is broad and deep, identifying it both with a universal need for meaning, and with the human desire for community

Ian Bell, Herald

Engaging… Makes its case eloquently

Scott Appleby, Tablet

Karen Armstrong is one of our most perceptive and thoughtful writers on religion... Consistently surprising and illuminating, Fields of Blood should be read by anyone interested in understanding the interaction of religion with violence in the modern world

John Gray, New Statesman

Riveting… Armstrong is one of our most erudite expositors of religion… a rare mix of cool-headed scholarship and impassioned concern

Sally Vickers, Observer

A hefty yet accessible tome that debunks myths, fires debate and helps explain some of the chaos in the world today

Choice Magazine

Well researched, insightful and revelatory… A compelling argument

Dean Haigh, UK Press Syndication

Mind-boggling… we feel we are in the hands of an expert. Armstrong is doing us a great service

David Shariatmadari, Guardian

Armstrong offers both a convincing rebuttal of some key New Atheist arguments, and hope for a better future

Church Times

Elegant and powerful, erudite and accurate...dazzling in its breadth and historical detail

Washington Post

Taking us from prehistoric to modern times, Karen Armstrong deftly manages her vast subject, and her conclusions will surprise you

Good Book Guide

A disturbing and refreshing view of 20,000 years of human society

Kate Cooper, History Today

thought-provoking

three stars, Daily Telegraph

Armstrong is doing us a great service

David Shariatmadari, Guardian

Mind-boggling… we feel we are in the hands of an expert. Armstrong is doing us a great service

David Shariatmadari, Guardian