God's Generals (Paperback)
The Military Lives of Moses, the Buddha and Muhammad
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
Pages: 242
ISBN: 9781473898097
Published: 4th July 2017
(click here for international delivery rates)
Need a currency converter? Check XE.com for live rates
It is one of the more startling facts of military history that the founders of three of the four great religionsJudaism, Buddhism, and Islamwere also accomplished field generals with extensive experience in commanding men in battle. One of these, Muhammad, fought eight battles and was wounded twice, once almost fatally. Another, Siddhartha Gautama (later to become the Buddha), witnessed so much battlefield carnage that he suffered a psychological collapse. Moses had become so much a god-intoxicated personality, it is a reasonable suspicion that he, like the Buddha, was murdered. Indeed, had the experiences of these men in war not been so successful, it is quite possible that their achievements as religious leaders would never have occurred. For all three, war and religion were so closely intertwined in their personalities that it is difficult to discern where the influence of one ended and the other began. This book attempts to explore the military lives of Moses, the Buddha and Muhammad, and the role their war experiences played in their religious lives.
As featured in
Military Heritage, March 2018
Thought-provoking and persuasive.
The Armourer, December 2017
As featured in
Bookseller, 28th April 2017
About Richard A Gabriel
Richard A. Gabriel is a distinguished professor in the Department of History and War Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada and in the Department of Defence Studies at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. He has also been professor of history and politics at the U.S. Army War College and held the Visiting Chair in Military Ethics at the Marine Corps University. A retired U.S. Army officer living in Manchester, New Hampshire, Gabriel is the author of numerous books and articles on military history and other subjects and has regularly appeared as an expert on TV documentaries.