God’s Generals: The Military Lives of Moses, the Buddha, and Muhammad

Royal Military College of Canada professor Gabriel ties together a history of ancient warfare with the rise of Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam in this somewhat muddled work. Despite the title, the biographies of Moses and Buddha disappear behind long discussions of military tactics and historical context. The coverage of Muhammad adheres more closely to his life and declares that his military reforms created the first guerilla fighting force. In every case, Gabriel is at pains to counter traditional religious biographies: his Moses is a severe and genocidal authoritarian, Buddha is a successful soldier rather than a pampered recluse, and Muhammad’s visions are the effects of malaria. This axe-grinding leads to intriguing theories, such as that Buddha’s asceticism is a typical response to PTSD and Moses’s shining face might arise from disease scars. Such discussions will disappoint the faithful but satisfy those who seek strictly secular explanations of the singular nature of these messianic figures. A brief final chapter traces the religions’ continued connection to violence, strangely arguing that Judaism’s lack of centralization defused violence but Islam’s similar structure allowed a continued support for it. Military buffs and skeptics will enjoy this, though readers seeking insights into the religious motivations of these men should look elsewhere. (Jan.)