War, Peace, and Prosperity in the Name of God: The Ottoman Role in Europe's Socioeconomic Evolution [Hardcover]

Differences among religious communities have motivatedand continue to motivatemany of the deadliest conflicts in human history. But how did political power and organized religion become so thoroughly intertwined? And how have religion and religiously motivated conflicts affected the evolution of societies throughout history, from demographic and sociopolitical change to economic growth?

War, Peace, and Prosperity in the Name of Godturns the focus on the big three monotheismsJudaism, Islam, and Christianityto consider these questions. Chronicling the relatively rapid spread of the Abrahamic religions among the Old World, Murat Iyigun shows that societies that adhered to a monotheistic belief in that era lasted longer, suggesting that monotheism brought some sociopolitical advantages. While the inherent belief in one true god meant that these religious communities had sooner or later to contend with one another, Iyigun shows that differences among them were typically strong enough to trump disagreements within. The book concludes by documenting the long-term repercussions of these dynamics for the organization of societies and their politics in Europe and the Middle East.

Murat Iyigunis professor of economics at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Preface
I???????????? The Preliminaries
1????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Societies, Polities, and Religion
1.1?????? Faith and Social Order
1.2?????? Does Theistic Competition Matter?
1.2.1??????????????? Social Advantages of Economies of Scale
1.2.2??????????????? Personalized Spiritual Exchange
1.2.3??????????????? Longer Time Horizons Due to Afterlife
1.3?????? Monotheisms Rule&
1.4?????? &and Conflict
II??????????? The Rise of Monotheism
2????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Empires Strike Back&under One God
2.1?????? Some Definitions
2.2?????? Sources and Data