What makes a war "holy," and who decides that it is? God of Battles examines the origins of holy war, and how it affects the modern world. Peter Partner shows how the ideal of the crusade, "God's War," came to permeate medieval Christendom, and how it influenced later Western societies, especially in their attitudes to colonialism. Above all, this book examines the reasons behind the fear that Islamic fundamentalism excites in the West. From the pre-Christian era to the Gulf War, this book places the jihad of the East and the Crusade of the West in their historical context, and warns against allowing crusading war propaganda to affect our judgments today.