God of Battles [Paperback]

Peter Partner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 19, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0691002355 | ISBN-13: 978-0691002354 | Edition: First Edition 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

What makes a war "holy," and who decides that it is? God of Battles examines the origins of holy war, and how it affects the modern world. Peter Partner shows how the ideal of the crusade, "God's War," came to permeate medieval Christendom, and how it influenced later Western societies, especially in their attitudes to colonialism. Above all, this book examines the reasons behind the fear that Islamic fundamentalism excites in the West. From the pre-Christian era to the Gulf War, this book places the jihad of the East and the Crusade of the West in their historical context, and warns against allowing crusading war propaganda to affect our judgments today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The best part of this excellent book concerns the shifting traditions of Islam in the nineteenth and twentieth century.... This is the only book I have read that comes to a fair and intelligent judgement on the Ayatollah Khomeini. -- Andrew Wheatcroft, Sunday Times

Partner writes with impressive sensitivity towards the subjects he is discussing. He is aware of the need to view different situations in their own contexts.... This book replaces caricature with a sympathetic, though not unduly flattering portrait. -- David Edgar, Irish Times

[Peter Partner] is just the man to provide a rational examination of the past ... a healthy antidote to the customary media debates about 'terrorism.' -- Richard Gott, Literary Review

About the Author

Peter Partner worked for many years as a journalist for The Observer (for whom he wrote the leading article in the first week of the Suez Crisis) and The Economist, among other publications. His books include The Lands of St. Peter: The Papal State in the Middle Ages, The Murdered Magicians: The Templars and Their Myth, and The Pope's Men: The Papal Civil Service in the Renaissance.

Product Details

• Paperback: 364 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press; First Edition 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 edition (October 19, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691002355
• ISBN-13: 978-0691002354
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,217,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Biased, contradictory and revisionist, December 21, 2004

By 

Seth J. Frantzman (Jerusalem, Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God of Battles (Paperback)

The message of this book was to explain 'Holy War' by looking through the conflict between Islam and Christianity. Unfortunately in this attempt it makes more mistakes, creates history and fabricates important works so as to resemble nothing more then a polemical fictionalized account of the actual texts and events involved. A few of the major errors are:

Although the Old Testament is accused of being a fabrication and fake this book nevertheless accuses Jews of inventing Holy war, so while Moses is said to not be a real person, we are still told that Joshua waged genocide. Although the word 'war' appears more in the Koran then any other topic this book describes Islam's relation to war as 'general' and says Jihad is more a moral struggle, meanwhile missing that half the Koran is incitement to war, including an entire chapter titled 'spoils'. Jesus is accused of being a war monger and the pacifism of Christianity is said to be 'fake' explaining that the real message of Jesus was holy war, even though a cursory reading of the New Testament reveals no such word.

Although this was supposed to be a study of actual 'Holy War' it deteriorates into an anti-western diatribe, trying to explain how although Europe became Secular in 1789 that the west is still waging a 'holy war' in the exporting of McDonalds or the export of such fanatical religious principles as democracy.

Terrorism, suicide bombing and genocide are termed 'rebellions' and the book explains how most of the victims of terrorism are in fact Muslims, although data doesn't show this to be true. This is one of the strangest books ever written. For a book that begins with chapters titled 'Islam and War' and 'Christianity and War' it appears as if the author never read the Bible, the Torah or the Koran, since no such quotes are used and there is a total gap in any understanding of the concept of war in all three. This book yields nothing but a farce in explaining past Holy Wars or the present conflict.

Seth J. Frantzman

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Recent events have made some of the themes sadly outdated, May 21, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: God of Battles (Paperback)

Had current events not argued so strongly against Peter Partner's central themes in "God of Battles", I would have agreed that it is an excellent book. Its exploration of the terror and damage wrought by Islam, Christendom, and Judaism in Europe and the Middle East is excellent, and altogether frightening. As explained by Partner, fundamentalism and mercilessness remain much of the problem today. One of Partner's themes is that Western perceptions of the Arab world are simplistic and reactionary; that not all Muslims follow the savage fundamental rhetoric that we commonly associate with "terrorism." Unfortunately, we now know that while it is technically true that the Islamic world is led by even-handed rulers, in actuality the inmates are in charge of the asylum. Arab rulers kow-tow to fundamentalist interests within their own peoples with terrifying regularity, or are simply powerless to prevent its growth. At the same time, Western politics concerning the Middle-East have also grow less tolerent. Indeed the overthrowing of the Taliban rule in Afganistan has redistributed the balance of power in the region. Western and Middle-Eastern relations have grow infinitely more complex since the 1997 publication date of "God of Battles." Perhaps a newer edition is in order - one that takes into account the renewed interest in jihad by fundamentalist Muslims, and the unwillingness or inability to stop it by the moderates.

2 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Look at How Bloodthirsty Religions Can Be, October 14, 2001

By 

Ali Hazam - See all my reviews

This review is from: God of Battles (Paperback)

All the excuse for shedding (other people's blood) in the name of their god... Holy war is an excuse for killing over religious differences. Such is the sentimentalism that lead to crusades or jihad. Unfortunate that such is the predicament today. In a way, it does show that religion can be used to support terrorist activities (as excuse or plain unreasonably other people of attacking their religion).

Religions have resulted in more people killing people than wild animals killing people. Think about it!