God's Battalions

The Case for the Crusades

By: Rodney Stark

Narrated by: David Drummond

Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

In God's Battalions, award-winning author Rodney Stark takes on the long-held view that the Crusades were the first round of European colonialism, conducted for land, loot, and converts by barbarian Christians who victimized the cultivated Muslims.

To the contrary, Stark argues that the Crusades were the first military response to unwarranted Muslim terrorist aggression. Stark reviews the history of the seven major Crusades from 1095 to 1291, demonstrating that the Crusades were precipitated by Islamic provocations, centuries of bloody attempts to colonize the West, and sudden attacks on Christian pilgrims and holy places. Although the Crusades were initiated by a plea from the pope, Stark argues that this had nothing to do with any elaborate design of the Christian world to convert all Muslims to Christianity by force of arms. Given current tensions in the Middle East and terrorist attacks around the world, Stark's views are a thought-provoking contribution to our understanding and are sure to spark debate.

©2009 Rodney Stark (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"An excitingly readable distillation of the new, revisionist Crusades historiography." ( Booklist)

Mythbuster for Catholic Haters

Any additional comments?

This work hits several myths about the Crusades head on and provides historical evidence to expose their errors:

* The myths of why the RC Church called for the 1st Crusade
* The myth of the victimized peace-loving Muslims minding their own business
* The myth of the Crusader as a blood-thirsty, raping, greedy mercenary.
* The myth of Saladin the Noble Warrior
* The myths surrounding the Fall of Jerusalem

Stark is a fearless iconoclast when it comes to the myths progressives invent to support their anti-Western narrative.

Stark does not whitewash the atrocities that were committed by some of the Crusaders. He frequently acknowledges that bad things were committed by some Crusaders. The corrective he offers is a vision of the Crusades as understood by contemporaries, against the vision offered by Enlightenment-Progressive scholarship which interprets the entire history as evidence of why white, European Medieval Christians and the history they made should be condemned.

This and works like it are greatly needed.

Great Topic

Great topic. Heavy on names and dates, but the subject matter and the contrarian aspect of the case make it one worth listening too. As with any history book, much of the interpretation of the events is in the eye of the beholder. I suggest reading it in large chunks so that the scale of the history can be enjoyed.

Firehose of aResl History on the Crusades

A must read if you feel any guilt for the Crusades. I had no idea how traitorous the Byzantines were.

Well read, and a great polemical counter narrative.

You expect (at least I do) a few things from an audio book:
1. The reader isn’t distracting, but helps bring along the story.
2. The book can interest you throughout.
3. You would happily re-listen to it.

This does all three.

counter revisionist

Good book. Well researched. Well read. It is difficult to find a so called "history" w/o an agenda, and this one's is at least clearly stated: to counter a revisionist view of history that seems to condemn the crusades as motivated by barbaric "Christians" seeking gold and glory while the "high and tolerant" culture of an Islamic Middle East (increasingly accepted as truth)was being destroyed. The author makes a convincing case against such revisionist thinking. I think this book should be read and debated in a wide forum. I would also like to see more titles from Rodney Stark in the Audible catalogue.

Will Listen to Again

Loved it. Very well put together. easy to follow and the narrator did well to convey the author's ideals.

Great Listen

Rodney doesn't have time for high level generalizations, he builds careful persuasive arguments. Nonconventional, thought provoking, free of political group think.

God's battalion

Provides an in-depth analysis for the case of the Crusades. Something that has been lacking for many years in academia quite a compelling case unless the thought of having your wives and daughters in Berkus is appealing

Brilliant debunking of biased narratives with fact

I thought that I was well read on The Crusades, but after finishing God's Battalions I was blown away by Rodney Stark's research. I had to verify for myself some of the findings because they were so contrary to everything I'd read before. Now I'm convinced that the popular narrative we accept in the West is so biased by ideological and anti-Catholic bias that it's one of the most egregious examples of revisionist history.

A Powerful Argument

A wonderful and challenging examination of a topic long misused and misrepresented for political philosophical and religious goals. Stark sets out to restore balance and dismiss talking points in this great book.