God's Battalions
The Case for the Crusades

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

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

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

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

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