Fields of Blood by Karen Armstrong

Fields of Blood by Karen Armstrong

A sweeping exploration of religion and the history of human violence--from the New York Times bestselling author of The History of God * "Elegant and powerful.... Both erudite and accurate, dazzling in its breadth of knowledge and historical detail." --The Washington Post

In these times of rising geopolitical chaos, the need for mutual understanding between cultures has never been more urgent. Religious differences are seen as fuel for violence and warfare. In these pages, one of our greatest writers on religion, Karen Armstrong, amasses a sweeping history of humankind to explore the perceived connection between war and the world's great creeds--and to issue a passionate defense of the peaceful nature of faith.  

With unprecedented scope, Armstrong looks at the whole history of each tradition--not only Christianity and Islam, but also Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Judaism. Religions, in their earliest days, endowed every aspect of life with meaning, and warfare became bound up with observances of the sacred. Modernity has ushered in an epoch of spectacular violence, although, as Armstrong shows, little of it can be ascribed directly to religion. Nevertheless, she shows us how and in what measure religions came to absorb modern belligerence--and what hope there might be for peace among believers of different faiths in our time.

KAREN ARMSTRONG is the author of numerous other books on religious affairs, including The Case for God, A History of God, The Battle for God, Holy War, Islam, Buddha and The Great Transformation--and a memoir, The Spiral Staircase. Her work has been translated into 45 languages. In February 2008 she was awarded the TED Prize and began working with TED on The Charter for Compassion, created online by the general public, crafted by leading thinkers in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, as well as in Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. It was launched globally in the fall of 2009. She is currently an ambassador for the UN Alliance of Civilizations. The author lives in London, UK.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780307946966
ISBN 10	0307946967
Title	Fields of Blood
Author	Karen Armstrong
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2015-09-15
Number of pages	528
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.