Synopses & Reviews
Not only the erudite Thomas Jefferson, the wily and elusive Ben Franklin, and the underappreciated Thomas Paine, but also Ethan Allen, the hero of the Green Mountain Boys, and Thomas Young, the forgotten Founder who kicked off the Boston Tea Party--these radicals who founded America set their sights on a revolution of the mind. Derided as "infidels" and "atheists" in their own time, they wanted to liberate us not just from one king but from the tyranny of supernatural religion.
Review
"Brilliant . . . breathes fresh life into our understanding of the American Revolution. Beautifully written and lucidly argued, recovers the lost voices and original intentions of the thoughtful men who made America. Sure to stir controversy on all fronts" Peter S. Onuf, author of The Mind of Thomas Jefferson
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"Splendid...imaginative but never fanciful, even at its most surprising." Alan Ryan, author of The Making of Modern Liberalism
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"A lively, powerful, and erudite refutation of the myth that the framers of our secular Constitution had any intention of founding an orthodox Christian nation." Susan Jacoby, author of Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism
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"Eloquently argued." Wendy Smith
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"Enthralling and important ... [A] pleasure to read." Los Angeles Times
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"Impressive... refreshing." Buzzy Jackson Boston Globe
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"Impassioned, noble, and necessary." Brook Wilensky-Lanford
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"[A] splendidly polemical account of the philosophy of the founding fathers." New Republic
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"Enthralling and important... [A] pleasure to read, its often surprising conclusions supported by elegant prose." Jonathan Ree Prospect (UK)
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"Eloquently argued." Buzzy Jackson Boston Globe
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"Impressive... refreshing." Wendy Smith Los Angeles Times
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"Brilliant... breathes fresh life into our understanding of the American Revolution. Beautifully written and lucidly argued, ...will set the agenda for serious discussion of the American Revolution's significance in world history." Barton Swaim Wall Street Journal
Synopsis
America s founders intended to liberate us not just from one king but from the ghostly tyranny of supernatural religion. Drawing deeply on the study of European philosophy, Matthew Stewart brilliantly tracks the ancient, pagan, and continental ideas from which America s revolutionaries drew their inspiration. In the writings of Spinoza, Lucretius, and other great philosophers, Stewart recovers the true meanings of Nature s God, the pursuit of happiness, and the radical political theory with which the American experiment in self-government began.
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Synopsis
Where did the ideas come from that became the cornerstone of American democracy?
About the Author
Matthew Stewart is the author of Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic, The Courtier and the Heretic: Leibniz, Spinoza, and the Fate of God in the Modern World and The Management Myth: Debunking the Modern Philosophy of Business. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.