God of Battles: Holy Wars of East and West - Hardcover

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Peter Partner is a highly regarded historian. He was a journalist for many years, for the ‘Observer>/I>, the ‘Economist’ and others, and has broadcast frequently for the BBC on Arab topics.

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What makes a war 'holy', and who decides that it is? In this wide-ranging and thought-provoking book, Peter Partner examines the origins of holy war, the ways in which it acquired its symbolic power, and how it still affects the modern world. From the pre-Christian era to the Gulf War, from Deuteronomy to 'The Satanic Verses', 'God of Battles' places the 'jihad' of the East and the crusade of the West in their historical context, and warns against allowing views that ultimately derive from crusading war propaganda to affect our judgements today.

Despite its pacifist message, Christianity has always been one of the great warrior religions. Partner shows how the ideal of the crusade, 'God's war', came to permeate medieval Christendom, and how powerfully it influenced later Western societies, especially in their attitudes to colonialism. He investigates today's Islamic fundamentalist movements, the meaning they attach to 'jihad' and the occasions on which they have practised it. He reveals how, while traditional in some respects, they are very modern in others, borrowing the most important part of their political vocabulary from Western sources. He also explores the pragmatism about waging holy war that has always influenced both Christianity and Islam.

Above all, 'God of Battles' examines the reasons behind the fear which Islamic fundamentalism excites in the West. Peter Partner argues that the only way to deprive holy war of its frightening aura of fanaticism is to look afresh at its religious framework and its political and social history. It is widely believed that only in the Muslim case can holy war be considered as an element in present-day conflicts, but crusading has in fact had a much longer afterlife than is generally thought, and its attitudes, that we think of as long-dead, continue to influence us, just as parallel religious ideas influence the Muslim world.

Peter Partner worked for many years as a journalist, for the 'Observer' (for whom he wrote the leading article in the first week of Suez) and the 'Economist' among others. He has broadcast frequently for the BBC on Arab topics. His books include 'The Lands of St Peter: The Papal State in the Middle Ages', 'The Murdered Magicians: The Templars and their Myth' and 'The Pope's Men: The Papal Civil Service in the Renaissance'. He lives in Winchester.