"Reilly digs down very deep into the past, down before America, down before Christ, down before philosophy, down to the revelation of the Hebrew God. . . . He is the ultimate source of the transcendent law available to human reason, the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God". Under these laws, America was formed."— Larry P. Arnn, Ph.D., President, Hillsdale College; from the Foreword
"It would be hard to imagine a more robust or comprehensive account, as well as defense, of the deep roots of the American Founding than Robert Reilly provides in this relatively compact treatment. In the current debates among Catholics and others about the presence—or absence—of natural law in the constitution of American liberty and rights, his strong, steady voice warrants particular attention."— Robert Royal, Ph.D., President, Faith & Reason Institute; Author, A Deeper Vision
"It's become fashionable in Christian or Catholic intellectual circles to condemn the American Founding as just so much bad Enlightenment philosophy. Many young people now think our current cultural maladies are simply fruits from the original poisoned tree. Robert Reilly shows convincingly that these charges are misguided."— Jay Richards, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute; Author, Money, Greed and God
"This book is a defense of the principles of natural law, morality, and natural religion—i.e., reason and faith—as the foundation of American policy from the beginning and a historical 'big picture' of their classical, medieval, and modern origins. The argument is unanswerable, the documentation massive, and the issue prophetic in import."— Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, Boston College; Author, Doors in the Walls of the World
"Reminiscent of Russell Kirk, Robert Reilly defends the American Founding by making clear that the intellectually broad and historically deep arguments of the Founders cannot be reduced to those of John Locke. Even more, he makes a formidable case that the Founders, in their use of Locke, did not understand him as a sweet bearer of Hobbesian thought, but in fact, forthrightly rejected the arguments of Thomas Hobbes. Reilly's book is essential reading about America's real roots."— Benjamin Wiker, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Franciscan University; Author, Worshiping the State
"Reilly takes on the foolish notion that the United States was badly—perhaps irreparably—founded because of the Enlightenment. He demonstrates that the roots of our country are grounded deeply not in Modernist heresies but in Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome. Our current decay was not inevitable, as some say, and it can be reversed by paying close attention and embracing where we really came from."— Austin Ruse, President, Center for Family & Human Rights
