The Robe and the Sword: How Buddhist Extremism Is Shaping Modern Asia by Faleiro, Sonia

The Robe and the Sword: How Buddhist Extremism Is Shaping Modern Asia

When the robe becomes a weapon, who can stop the violence? We think of Buddhism as a...
$36.00 USD
$64.99 USD
$36.00 USD
Please hurry! Only 115 left in stock
Author: Sonia Faleiro
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Subtotal: $36.00
The Robe and the Sword: How Buddhist Extremism Is Shaping Modern Asia by Faleiro, Sonia

The Robe and the Sword: How Buddhist Extremism Is Shaping Modern Asia

$64.99 $36.00

The Robe and the Sword: How Buddhist Extremism Is Shaping Modern Asia

$64.99 $36.00
Author: Sonia Faleiro
Format: Paperback
Language: English
When the robe becomes a weapon, who can stop the violence?


We think of Buddhism as a faith of peace--rooted in compassion, patience, and nonviolence. But across South and Southeast Asia today, the robe is being turned into a weapon as radical monks and nationalist movements unleash hatred and war.


In The Robe and the Sword, acclaimed journalist Sonia Faleiro travels from Sri Lanka's riot-scarred towns to the homes of refugees along the Myanmar border to Thailand's fortified temples, uncovering how militant monks have transformed a tradition of nonviolence into a tool of terror. She reveals how Sri Lanka's Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara incited mobs against Muslims, how Myanmar's Ashin Wirathu helped ignite a genocide, and how elements of Thailand's clergy have entrenched military rule.


Through vivid portraits of zealots, survivors, and dissident monks fighting to reclaim their faith, Faleiro delivers an unflinching investigation into the colonial trauma, economic grievances, and political forces fueling a dangerous new extremism. The Robe and the Sword is a searing and indispensable work of narrative nonfiction, urgently needed to understand how sacred traditions are being weaponized--and what is at stake for the future of our interconnected world.

Author: Sonia Faleiro
Publisher: Columbia Global Reports
Published: 11/11/2025
Pages: 160
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 7.40h x 5.00w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781967190003

About the Author
Faleiro, Sonia: - Sonia Faleiro is the author of The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing, a New York Times Editor's Choice and finalist for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize, and Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars, a finalist for the Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage. Her reporting and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Financial Times, Harper's, Granta, and the Times Literary Supplement. She lives in London, where she is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow and the founder of South Asia Speaks, a mentorship program for emerging writers.

Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the "Complete Orders" link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.

Shipping

We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.

When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.

Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.