Catholicism and American Freedom: A History [Paperback]

A brilliant book, which brings historical analysis of religion in American culture to a new level of insight and importance.  Delightfully complicating American intellectual history, [McGreevy] shows how Catholicism has offered an alternative to dominant understandings of liberty and progress. [McGreevy] has written the best intellectual history of the Catholic Church in America. More than any book I have read, McGreevy's shows how constituent and various an element Catholicism, in its several strains, has been in shaping this nation. Fascinating...a meditation on power and its shadow, marginality; on freedom, and its inevitable price, unfreedom. A laser-like examination of the central tension between Catholicism and the American experiment. Deeply intelligent, well written, and based on wide research in original sources, this will be the standard work for a long time to come. A masterpiece that will be read eagerly not only for its insights into Catholic history but also for its rich understanding of American history.