Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today's World by Karen Armstrong-Paperback
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Full Title: Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today's World
The New York Times bestselling author of A History of God skillfully narrates the history of the Crusades with a view toward their profound and continuing influence.
"Holy War brings compassion, objectivity, breadth, and imagination to the most urgent crisis of our time." —The Boston Phoenix
In 1095, Pope Urban II summoned Christian warriors to take up the cross and reconquer the Holy Land. Thus began the holy wars that would focus the power of Europe against a common enemy and become the stuff of romantic legend. In reality, the Crusades were a series of brutal conflicts waged in the name of piety. And, as Armstrong demonstrates in this fascinating book, their legacy of religious violence continues today in the Middle East, where the age-old conflict of Christians, Jews, and Muslims persists.
Karen Armstrong (born November 14, 1944) is a world-renowned British author, scholar, and former Roman Catholic nun celebrated for her profound writings on religion, spirituality, and the search for meaning across faith traditions. Over the course of her distinguished career, she has become one of the most respected voices on comparative religion, known for bridging divides between belief systems and fostering interfaith understanding in an increasingly complex world.
After leaving the convent in the late 1960s, Armstrong pursued a degree in English at Oxford University and began a journey of intellectual and spiritual exploration that would shape her life’s work. Her early memoir, Through the Narrow Gate, chronicles her time as a nun and her transition into secular life. However, it was her later works—such as A History of God, The Battle for God, The Case for God, and Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths—that established her as a leading interpreter of religious thought for general audiences.
A gifted storyteller and meticulous researcher, Armstrong examines how Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and other faiths have evolved in response to the human quest for transcendence. She consistently argues that religion, at its best, is a path of compassion and ethical transformation rather than division or dogmatism.
Her contributions have been recognized globally. In 2008, she received the TED Prize, which she used to launch the Charter for Compassion, a worldwide movement promoting mutual respect and moral responsibility among people of all faiths and none.
Karen Armstrong continues to write, lecture, and inspire readers worldwide with her message that understanding the sacred stories of others is essential to building a more peaceful and humane world. Connect with Karen Armstrong on Facebook
