Fields of Blood

Religion and the History of Violence

By: Karen Armstrong

Narrated by: Karen Armstrong

From the renowned and best-selling author of A History of God, a sweeping exploration of religion and the history of human violence.

For the first time, religious self-identification is on the decline in American. Some analysts have cited as cause a post-9/11 perception: that faith in general is a source of aggression, intolerance, and divisiveness - something bad for society. But how accurate is that view? With deep learning and sympathetic understanding, Karen Armstrong sets out to discover the truth about religion and violence in each of the world’s great traditions, taking us on an astonishing journey from prehistoric times to the present.

While many historians have looked at violence in connection with particular religious manifestations (jihad in Islam or Christianity’s Crusades), Armstrong looks at each faith - not only Christianity and Islam, but also Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Judaism - in its totality over time. As she describes, each arose in an agrarian society with plenty powerful landowners brutalizing peasants while also warring among themselves over land, then the only real source of wealth. In this world, religion was not the discrete and personal matter it would become for us but rather something that permeated all aspects of society. And so it was that agrarian aggression, and the warrior ethos it begot, became bound up with observances of the sacred.

At a moment of rising geopolitical chaos, the imperative of mutual understanding between nations and faith communities has never been more urgent, the dangers of action based on misunderstanding never greater. Informed by Armstrong's sweeping erudition and personal commitment to the promotion of compassion, Fields of Blood makes vividly clear that religion is not the problem.

©2014 Karen Armstrong (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A well-written historical summary of what have traditionally been viewed as "religious" wars, showing convincingly that in pretty much all cases it was not so much religion as it was political issues that fueled the conflict." (Augustine J. Curley, Library Journal (starred review)

"Provocative and supremely readable…. the comparative nature of [Armstrong's] inquiry is refreshing…. Bracing as ever, [she] sweeps through religious history around the globe and over 4,000 years to explain the yoking of religion and violence and to elucidate the ways in which religion has also been used to counter violence." ( Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Fascinating!

Very informative and clearly articulated. A perspective on religions from past to present that helps explain our world today. Highly recommend this book.

Required reading for US foreign policy makers

I think every member of Congress and President Obama should be required to read this book. I consider it one of the most important books I've read in many, many years.

Brilliant and important

Now we know WHY we are making enemies faster than we can kill them. The author shows how it all makes sense.

Exquisite scholarship

Karen Armstrong is the Grande Dame of socio-religious scholarship in our era. With calm, cool, and irrefutable research she presents the single most coherent and effective case for religion as NOT being the source of the planet’s violent ills.

Dame Karen delivers again.

A wonderfully informational history of the relationship between religion, governments, and war told by one of the foremost interfaith experts. A great companion to 'History of God' or 'The Battle for God.'

2023…this is even more relevant today..

I read this book back when it came out in 2014, and I reread just now… And what is happening over in Israel right now makes this book even more relevant than ever before in explaining what’s going on in the Middle East.… I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand religion and history with humanity…. or inhumanity. 

Good read

Her left political leaning was apparent during a few sections. Otherwise it was a good book, very historical

Shedding Light On The History Ov Violence

This Book should be a must read for all political leaders as well as modern citizens of the world. It's very much a history of the world seen through the lens of violence both secular and religious, and the relationship between the two whether in opposition to another or using one to justify the other.

Clearing Misconceptions

We are plagued with a lot of sensationalist anti-religious propaganda today. This audiobook is a step in the right direction to correct a few misconceptions and provide true history away from sensationalism and ignorance.

Required Reading on religion and violence

Perhaps the most important piece of scholarship on religion and violence; impressive breadth; simply outstanding.