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God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades, by Rodney Stark
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Review
“GOD’S BATTALIONS launches a frontal assault on the comfortable myths that scholars have popularized about the crusades. The results are startling. His greatest achievement is to make us see the crusaders on their own terms.” (Philip Jenkins, author of The Lost History of Christianity)“At last, a convincing, balanced book on the Crusades, far from the recent unsophisticated and ideological diatribes against them as “A Bad Thing.” Rodney Stark demonstrates that the Crusades were neither unprovoked nor colonialist. Here is yet another rich and readable book from this thoughtful and distinguished author.” (Jeffrey Burton Russell, author of A History of Heaven and Paradise Mislaid)“An excitingly readable distillation of the new, revisionist Crusades historiography.” (Booklist (starred review))“There is much to be learned here. Filled with fascinating historical glimpses of monks and Templars, priests and pilgrims, kings and contemplatives, Stark pulls it all together and challenges us to reconsider our view of the Crusades.” (Publishers Weekly)“[Stark’s] new book, God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades, gives historic and sociological evidence for a fresh assessment of the Crusades.” (United Methodist Reporter)“[Stark] wants to challenge the prevailing television pundit-level misunderstanding of the Crusades, and in this, his accessible, enjoyably argued book succeeds.” (Christianity Today)“Award-winning author and sociologist Rodney Stark humbly goes to war against the many politically correct myths surrounding the history of the Crusades in this well-researched and easy-to-read academic masterpiece. Stark proves himself once again as a historical myth-buster.” (CBN.com, A+ rating)“[Stark] makes the case [for the crusades] with admirable frankness and flair.” (The Catholic Thing)“Rodney Stark turns what we ‘know’ about history on its head.” (Relevant Magazine)“Stark’s style is clear and direct. He sets the pace of narrative masterfully...The result is a good read...Christian readers should welcome Stark’s affirmation of the best in scholarship, both old and new, and his willingness to argue a controversial position.” (Christian Scholar’s Review)
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About the Author
Rodney Stark is the Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University. His thirty books on the history and sociology of religion include The Rise of Christianity, Cities of God, For the Glory of God, Discovering God, and The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success. Stark received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
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Product details
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: HarperOne; Reprint edition (November 9, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061582603
ISBN-13: 978-0061582608
Product Dimensions:
5.3 x 0.6 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.5 out of 5 stars
328 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#220,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
While the book starts off in a well balanced manner, shattering the laughable modern myths regarding the "unprovoked" nature of the crusade, the West's so called "backwardness" in the Middle Ages and highlights the fact that the Islamic progress was due largely to partially assimilated cultures, many of which were ultimately destroyed, I feel that it really does abandon its objectivity towards the end.The first crusade is presented well, the background, the warriors, the journey, the battles and the outcome are all well documented and the fact that the crusaders basically applied the standard policy of the age at Jerusalem ( just like Saladin did a few years later) really sheds some objective light on this fascinating period. The book presents some other little known facts like the admiration of certain Muslim writers towards the way justice was served in a fair manner in the crusader kingdoms, the military superiority of the West alongside the agricultural advancements of the so called "Dark Ages" that ensured that westerners ate better food than any other group of people at that time.The highlight of the book, ironically, is not the presentation of the crusades but the background and the causes. For some reason, the downright cretinous claims of Voltaire and others who said that Islam was received with enthusiasm in the conquered areas are still popular in the West today. While the Balkan countries, Poland, Hungary still have plenty of reminders of hundreds of years of oppression, raids, child slaves and sex slaves at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, the moronic claims of certain 17th-18th century writers which were living in the most rich and advanced societies in the history of mankind and were surrounded by flourishing arts and sciences but for some reason wanted to ridicule those very societies by raising Islam on a pedestal...these claims still have traction today, and for this reason, books like this one are very healthy.Towards the end, as mentioned above, the book unfortunately abandons its myth shattering purpose and objective attitude and becomes fully apologetic.The 4th crusade in particular is presented as some sort of an accident where the crusaders were placed in an impossible situation and, despite the fact that they didn't want to, they 'had' to sack the most advanced and rich city of the time...no mention of the fact the Venetians basically had been waiting for any excuse to raid Constantinople for a long time. The book mentions the low body count but conveniently ignores the fact that it was the greatest robbery of the age if we consider the total amount of loot that was carried away and ended up in Venice and other places. The book also fails to mention that the Church excommunicated a lot of people after this crusade...No mention of the dubious Northern Crusades or any of the subsequent degenerations of the original idea behind the crusading, the corruption of certain Knight Orders and of the fact that basically that very 4th crusade alongside the Zara fiasco basically ended the age of the knight wars and the beginning of the mercenary age in Europe. This made me drop a few stars off the score...but as mentioned above, it's still a healthy read.
This book is a good beginning history of why Christians first went to fight in the Crusades.On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II gave a speech graphically detailing the torture, rape, and murder of Christian pilgrims and the defilement of churches and holy places committed by the Turks. “They destroy the altars, after having defiled them with their uncleanness. They circumcise the Christians, and the blood of the circumcision they pour into the vases of the baptismal font...They torture people...by perforating their navels, and dragging forth the extremity of the intestines, bind it to a stake; then with flogging they lead the victim around until the viscera having gushed forth the victim falls prostrate on the ground...What shall I say about the abominable rape of women? To speak of it is worse than to be silent. On whom therefore is the labor of avenging these wrongs and recovering this territory incumbent, if not upon you?â€This is the traditional explanation of how and why the First Crusade begun. Alexius Comnenus, the emperor of Byzantium, had written from his embattled capital of Constantinople to the Count of Flanders, requesting that he and his fellow Christians send forces to help the Byzantines repel the Seljuk Turks. These were recent converts to Islam who had invaded the Middle East, ambushed Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land, captured Jerusalem, and driven to within one hundred miles of Constantinople.This book counters more recent criticism that the long-ago crusades are helping to fuel modern Islamic fury. Not true. The author shows how Muslim antagonism about the Crusades did not appear until about 1900, when there was a reaction against the decline of the Ottoman Empire and against European colonialism in the Middle East. Anti-crusader feelings did not become intense until after the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.A very well-written and highly researched book.
Point: “The Crusades were not unprovoked. They were not the first round of European colonialism. They were not conducted for land, loot, or converts. The crusaders were not barbarians who victimized the cultivated Muslims. They sincerely believed that they served in God’s battalions†(kindle 3371).Path: Stark walks the other side of the fence. He reveals what is on the flip side of the coin which no one talks about anymore. I am sure that the author got tired of hearing undocumented and illogical arguments surrounding the Crusades and finally sat down and compiled arguments from the actually sources left to us.Sources: Stark pulls from sources during the Crusades until today. He sites all the popular authors on the Crusades, both from the West and Muslim world. He does so thoroughly and coherently. (I think I actually found a sentence without a footnote somewhere in there!)Agreement: I greatly appreciated reading this alternate view of the Crusades. The truth is that the Crusades were not bloodless, gentle, nor fair - on either side. But that does not mean that they were colonialistic, one-sided, brutal offensive on a peace-loving Muslim populace.Personal App: When people bring to the conversation arguments about the Crusades and why ISIS cannot be blamed for their horrific violence, I can now say, “Yes, about those Crusades…â€â€Favorite Quote: “To sum up the prevailing wisdom: during the Crusades, an expansionist, imperialistic Christendom brutalized, looted, and colonized a tolerant and peaceful Islam. Not so. As will be seen, the Crusades were precipitated by Islamic provocations: by centuries of bloody attempts to colonize the West and by sudden new attacks on Christian pilgrims and holy places (kindle 139).It would be worth another read and I would recommend it to someone who:Is interested in historyIs interested in the Muslim world
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