Fields of Blood

Karen Armstrong, a historian of religion, takes on the widely held idea that religion is uniquely responsible for violence. Ranging from the ancient world through the crusades to modern terrorism, she argues that faith has usually been entangled with the politics of the state, and that much violence blamed on religion has social and material roots. The book is a broad survey with a clear thesis, and Zeeshan Ali credits it with reframing how he saw the question.