The Sword of the Lord is the first book to examine military chaplains and the development of the military chaplaincy across history and geography?from the first to the twenty-first century, from Europe to North America. The scope of this work reveals the astonishing fact that the military chaplaincy has existed in a recognizable form for more than 1,600 years. Contributors analyze specific historical moments in the development of the chaplaincy, beginning in antiquity and progressing through the Crusades, the English Civil War, the American Civil War, both World Wars, and the Vietnam War.

Doris L. Bergen is the Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor of Holocaust Studies at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Twisted Cross: The German Christian Movement in the Third Reich (1996); War and Genocide: A Concise History of The Holocaust (2003), and editor of Lessons and Legacies VIII (2008).

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“The Sword of the Lord merits a place on the bookshelf for its extensive mapping out of the fairly confined terrain of chaplain studies. The twelve essays gathered here — are a welcome addition to this too often neglected aspect of military and religious history. It is a valuable addition to the literature on those figures who stand at a unique intersection of religion and the military.? “Journal of Military History

Journal of Military History