God's battalions
Subtitle: the case for the Crusades
By: Rodney Stark.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: HarperOne
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 276
ISBN-13: 9780061582615
Subjects: Crusades; Christianity and other religions -- Islam; Islam -- Relations -- Christianity; Religion and civilization; Civilization, Medieval
Description: 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. Instead, Stark argues that the Crusades were the first military response to Muslim terrorist aggession.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Greedy barbarians in armor?; title: Muslim invaders; title: Christendom strikes back; title: Western "ignorance" versus Eastern "culture"; title: Pilgrimage and persecution; title: Enlisting crusaders; title: Going East; title: Bloody victories; title: The crusader kingdoms; title: The struggle to defend the kingdoms; title: Crusades against Egypt; title: Mission abandoned.