Fields of Blood (Armstrong) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Elegant and powerful.... Both erudite and accurate, dazzling in its breadth of knowledge and historical detail.... [Armstrong] seeks to demonstrate that, rather than putting the blame on the bloody images and legends in sacred texts and holy history, we should focus on the political contexts that frame religion.
Mark Juergensmeyer - Washington Post


[A] bold new book.... Armstrong makes a powerful case that critics like Dawkins ignore the lessons of the past and present in favor of a "dangerous oversimplification."... [Her argument] is strong enough to change minds.
Randy Dotinga - Christian Science Monitor


A timely work....This passionately argued book is certain to provoke heated debate against the background of the Isis atrocities and many other acts of violence perpetrated around the world today in the name of religion.
John Cornwell - Financial Times


With exquisite timing, religious historian Karen Armstrong steps forth with Fields of Blood . . . Laden with example.... [Armstrong’s] overall objective is to call a time-out. Think before you leap to prejudice, she says.... Among the most interesting stuff in [her] book is her deconstruction of the modern Islamic stereotype.... In the end, the point Armstrong feels most adamant about is that by blaming religion for violence, we are deliberately and disastrously blinding ourselves to the real, animating issues in the Middle East and Africa.
Patricia Pearson - Daily Beast


Detailed and often riveting...a mighty offering.... Armstrong can be relied on to have done her homework and she has the anthropologist’s respect for the ‘otherness’ of other cultures . . . [Her] oeuvre is extensive, bringing a rare mix of cool-headed scholarship and impassioned concern for humanity to bear on the vexed topic of religion.... [And she] is nothing if not democratic in her exposition.
Salley Vickers - Guardian (UK)


Eloquent and empathetic, which is rare, and impartial, which is rarer.... [Armstrong] ranges across the great empires and leading faiths of the world. Fields of Blood is never less than absorbing and most of the time as convincing as it is lucid and robust.... [This] wonderful book certainly cleanses the mind. It may even do a little repair work on the heart.
Ferdinand Mount - Spectator (UK)


From Gilgamesh to bin Laden, [Armstrong covers] almost five millennia of human experience.... Supplying the context of what may look like religiously motivated episodes of violence, in order to show that religion as such was not the prime cause.... She is no doubt right to say that the aggression of a modern jihadist does not represent some timeless essence of religion, and that other political, economic and cultural factors loom large in the stories of how and why individuals become radicalized.
Noel Malcolm - Telegraph (UK)


Fluent and elegant, never quite long enough...as much about the nature of warfare as it is about faith.... [Armstrong] is taking issue with a cliché, the routine claim that religion, advertising itself as humanity’s finest expression, has been responsible for most of the woes of the species.... The Crusades, the Inquisition, the Wars of Religion, even modern "jihadi" terrorism: each is investigated.... The picture is bleak, but certainly accurate.... Exploitation and oppression continue...but these provide a challenge for the godly and the godless alike. The proposition, like the book, is noble.
Ian Bel - Sunday Herald (Scotland)


(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.) 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, Newark Abbey, NJ
Library Journal


(Starred review.) Armstrong again impresses with the breadth of her knowledge and the skill with which she conveys it to us.
Booklist


(Starred review.) Epic in scale...a comprehensive and erudite study of the history of violence in relation to religion.... Armstrong leads readers patiently through history...her writing is clear and descriptive, her approach balanced and scholarly.... An intriguing read, useful resource and definitive voice in defense of the divine in human culture.
Kirkus Reviews