Orestes A. Brownson: American Religious Weathervane

Orestes Augustus Brownson (1803- 1876) was a philosopher, essayist, and minister whose broad-ranging ideas both reflected and influenced the social and religious mores of his day. This superb biography by Patrick Carey provides a thorough, incisive account of Brownson's shifting intellectual and religious life within the context of American cultural history.

Based on a close reading of Brownson's diary notebooks, letters, essays, and books, this biography chronicles the course of Brownson's...