Newsweek's managing editor explores the connection between church and state by examining the religious beliefs of America's founders, and how those beliefs have impacted American history.
Critic Reviews
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Outstanding
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USA Today Deirdre Donahue
In these polarized times, Meacham's book provides an enlightening look at how the founders discovered ways to tame but not extinguish the fires of faith.
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Favorable
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Washington Post Pauline Maier
From a believer's perspective, however, it's hard to understand why anyone would alter a system that has served so well the cause of religion by honoring humanity's God-given freedom of thought. And that, in the end, is Meacham's point
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Favorable
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Library Journal George Westerlund
Meacham provides a balanced account of this "American Gospel" as to how it was formed and how it is shaping our history down to such present-day challenges as holiday displays, prayer in schools, abortion, euthanasia, and gay rights. [1 May 2006, p.92]
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Favorable
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Publishers Weekly
Meacham's remarkable grasp of the intricacies and achievements of a nascent nation is well worth the cover price. [17 Apr 2006]
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Favorable
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Christian Science Monitor John Ettorre
Meacham provides more than 130 pages of appendices, source notes, and bibliography. It's considerably more than the general reader would ever need or want...But all that research has uncovered some gems.
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Favorable
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New York Review Of Books Gordon S. Wood
A full and very readable account of what the Founders were up to.
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Unfavorable
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The New York Times Book Review Alan Wolfe
Meacham's book falls between the cracks. It is, by his own admission, not academic history. But, since our era bears so little resemblance to the era of the founders, neither is it the narrative essay he claims to be presenting.
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