1. Name: Fields of Blood : Religion and the History of Violence
2. Author: Karen Armstrong
3. Genre: Non Fiction/History
4. Book Post No. : 66
5. What is it about? : Is it true or is is a myth? Does Religion really incite violence? That is the question this book tries to answer in its 370 pages. Spanning millenniums, starting from the early cities of Sumer to the modern times, this book explores the complex relationship between religion and violence. It examines at all the major religions including ; Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism.
6. How I came to read it? : My uncle gave this book along with many others many years ago. It lay there in our home in India for years until finally I thought the time had finally come to read it. Also, in todays polarized outlook towards Muslims, I wanted to equip myself with knowledge about religions.
7. Did I like it? : Absolutely. One of the most important books I have ever read. Karen starts the book with the earliest civilizations and what religion meant to them. The first chapter talking about Sumer, the world’s first civilization, is absolutely brilliant. Not only does it explain the origins of religion but at the same time readers can understand the how the first human societies evolved and what were some of the first kingdoms. Next she moves to Aryans who migrated to the area which is India now and how Hinduism developed. Karen also examines Buddhism and Judaism. Throughout these descriptions, Karen explores the relationship between religion and violence and shows that one does not lead to the other. In fact, Karen elaborates, every religion propagates peace and violence arises from other factors. I do not want to expand further on these themes as being a Muslim in todays times I have to be careful of what I write about.
“Am I my brother’s guardian?” The answer must, surely, be ‘Yes’.
Part two of the book is entirely devoted to Christianity and Islam, the religions with the top 2 most adherents presently. These religions, in spite of having so much in common, still managed to have endless conflicts throughout history. The Crusades were one of the biggest of them. In simplest terms, Crusades is portrayed as one religion vs the other but it was more than that. It was not fought on religion primarily. It was politics. Again not going into the details into this one but if you would like to read more there are some book suggestions on Islam and Crusades below. The last and final part of the book explores the role of religion in modern times. How the western world made religion secular, how Islamic terrorism has taken root and other right wing movements across the world.
Reading this book has changed many of the notions I held previously and has given me a new perspective on religions of the world. That’s why I consider it one of the most important books I have ever read. The Afterword section should be mandatory reading for everyone.
8. Positives:
- Comprehensive look at all major world religions and the significant events in their evolution that shaped their modern look
- Tons of insights
- Unbiased
- Scholarly approach and nuanced on handling the complex issues
9. Areas of improvement:
- The author assumes the reader is familiar with the origins of all major religions and does not go into this. Not even a brief mention about it. This is tough for anyone who is unfamiliar with origins of religions.
- Pretty dense and there are sections which get difficult to understand for a general reader.
10. Any other personal notes, observations, fun facts etc.
Books on Islam related topics:
- Ulema’s Role in India’s Freedom Movements by Syed Ubaidur Rahman
- The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians created a culture of tolerance in Medieval Spain. by Maria Rosa Menocal
- Jerusalem: The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Saladin : The Life, the Legend and the Islamic Empire by John man