Peace Crusaders

The Crusades and Christian peace movements opposing them.

In this absorbing history of progressive-era America, acclaimed historian David Traxel paints a vivid picture of a tumultuous time of change that was the foundation for the twentieth century.. With WWI on the horizon, the struggles to end child labor, improve public health, advance education, win votes for women, and rid cities of corrupt political machines brought forth passionate responses from millions of Americans. There was a demand for reform and a desire for a more efficient and compassionate society. From wide-eyed dreamers to hard-line politicians, seasoned reporters to diary keeping soldiers, these crusaders–Jack Reed, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Margaret Sanger, and “Mother” Jones to name a few–come alive in these pages.

"Originally a doctoral thesis presented to the Department of History at Harvard University." Bibliography: p. [230]-241.

The world has always had uprisings, revolutions, border conflicts, and dictatorial ambitions. Thus far, there has been minimal interest in a possible cure, or to take action to eliminate, this world wide dilemma. No-one seems to care if these people live or die. We have reached the time that someone, or some country, takes action to support the victims. Someone to offer assistance to the down trodden. America has had its share of pioneers, anxious warriors, and librarians, but none with a suitable response to the acts of violence or aggressive actions. As in the past, there has always been a Leader that was willing to place himself in harm s way, to pioneer a campaign to minimize or eliminate the perpetrators of these uprisings or insurgents.

The world has always had uprisings, revolutions, border conflicts, and dictatorial ambitions. Thus far, there has been minimal interest in a possible cure, or to take action to eliminate, this world wide dilemma. No-one seems to care if these people live or die. We have reached the time that someone, or some country, takes action to support the victims. Someone to offer assistance to the down trodden. America has had its share of pioneers, anxious warriors, and librarians, but none with a suitable response to the acts of violence or aggressive actions. As in the past, there has always been a Leader that was willing to place himself in harm’s way, to pioneer a campaign to minimize or eliminate the perpetrators of these uprisings or insurgents.

A classic of World War II literature, an incredibly revealing work that provides a near comprehensive account of the war and brings to life the legendary general and eventual president of the United States. • "Gives the reader true insight into the most difficult part of a commander's life." —The New York Times Five-star General Dwight D. Eisenhower was arguably the single most important military figure of World War II. Crusade in Europe tells the complete story of the war as he planned and executed it. Through Eisenhower's eyes the enormous scope and drama of the war--strategy, battles, moments of great decision--become fully illuminated in all their fateful glory. Penned before his Presidency, this account is deeply human and helped propel him to the highest office. His personal record of the tense first hours after he had issued the order to attack leaves no doubt of his travails and reveals how this great leader handled the ultimate pressure. For historians, his memoir of this world historic period has become an indispensable record of the war and timeless classic.

A major new history of the Crusades with an unprecedented wide scope, told in a tableau of portraits of people on all sides of the wars, from the author of Powers and Thrones. For more than one thousand years, Christians and Muslims lived side by side, sometimes at peace and sometimes at war. When Christian armies seized Jerusalem in 1099, they began the most notorious period of conflict between the two religions. Depending on who you ask, the fall of the holy city was either an inspiring legend or the greatest of horrors. In Crusaders, Dan Jones interrogates the many sides of the larger story, charting a deeply human and avowedly pluralist path through the crusading era. Expanding the usual timeframe, Jones looks to the roots of Christian-Muslim relations in the eighth century and tracks the influence of crusading to present day. He widens the geographical focus to far-flung regions home to so-called enemies of the Church, including Spain, North Africa, southern France, and the Baltic states. By telling intimate stories of individual journeys, Jones illuminates these centuries of war not only from the perspective of popes and kings, but from Arab-Sicilian poets, Byzantine princesses, Sunni scholars, Shi'ite viziers, Mamluk slave soldiers, Mongol chieftains, and barefoot friars. Crusading remains a rallying call to this day, but its role in the popular imagination ignores the cooperation and complicated coexistence that were just as much a feature of the period as warfare. The age-old relationships between faith, conquest, wealth, power, and trade meant that crusading was not only about fighting for the glory of God, but also, among other earthly reasons, about gold. In this richly dramatic narrative that gives voice to sources usually pushed to the margins, Dan Jones has written an authoritative survey of the holy wars with global scope and human focus.