Gods Battalions, Rodney Stark
Gods Battalions, Rodney Stark
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God's Battalions
The Case for the Crusades

Author: Rodney Stark

Narrator: Bob Souer

Unabridged: 7 hr 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperOne

Published: 04/22/2025

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

A respected and controversial scholar argues that the Crusades were a justified war waged against Muslim terror and aggressionThis book takes on the current vogue in liberal thinking to argue that, in fact, 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.In the wake of many recent books justifying Muslim holy wars by criticizing the historic use of violence by Christians, Stark presents the other side of the story. Drawing upon a wide variety of sources, Stark argues the facts and figures about why and how Christianity attempted to secure the Holy Lands and protect the safety of Christian pilgrims.Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

About Rodney Stark

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.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Terence on February 19, 2010

I wonder why Rodney Stark wrote this book. He claims there is a “sinister” (p. 4) trend in Crusader studies that characterizes the Muslim world as the innocent and culturally and morally far superior victim of this first manifestation of European colonialism. That “during the Crusades, an expansioni......more

Goodreads review by Hunter on February 26, 2010

Perhaps a better title would be something like Don’t Allow the Crusades to be Thoughtlessly Added to a Parade of Christian Horribles without Knowing More about It, but I wanted to get your attention. Rodney Stark’s God’s Batallions is an outstanding book designed to help the educated reader (not only......more

Goodreads review by Alex on August 13, 2016

Rodney Stark’s rollicking and highly accessible account of the Crusades serves as an eye-opener to its readers. In it, Stark clears away many modern misconceptions about the Crusades, such as false claims that the Christian soldiers were savages whereas the Muslims were enlightened and peaceful and......more

Goodreads review by Mark on April 25, 2011

This book serves two useful purposes: (1) It is a good short, readable history of the crusades. If you don't know much about the period, it's a good introduction. Stark relates an excellent overview of the history, culture, and military realities of the era. This is pretty straightforward so I'll lea......more

Goodreads review by Chris on January 13, 2010

It's such a joy to find a book that doesn't seek to downplay or denigrate the Christian history of the West and the Middle East. Stark takes us into the reasons of the Crusades by relating the attacks and massacres of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Places. The Crusades and their so-called barbarity......more